


Still Here

by PencilWolf15



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Gen, I guess it's up to me!, I hecking love monsters, Kinda, Monster - Freeform, Monsters, Mutants, and I rarely see it, freaks, just....monsters, kids finding and befriending lonely freaks of nature is one of my favorite tropes, more of an aftermath cleaning up the mess kind of thing, sewer medic - Freeform, tbh this is hardly TF2 at all, vent scout
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2018-11-14 00:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 73,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11196741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PencilWolf15/pseuds/PencilWolf15
Summary: It's been years since the gravel wars were forced to conclude, and the whereabouts of the mercs are unknown. Completely unrelated to them, a family of five, carrying emotional baggage, move into a house not far from one of the abandoned bases. They quickly learn that the vacant "2fort" isn't so vacant after all





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this story written for years, and now I've actually decided to go in and polish it up all nice-like. Heck, it's not even done, but hey, I wanna get this one done because it has a special place in my heart. Also monsters. I can't tell you guys how much I hecking love monsters

The man smacked the table with the registration papers, making the real estate agent at the desk jump a mile out of his skin. "I've made my decision," He said loudly, "I want this property,"

The agent, slightly dazed from the scare, looked down at the paper, "This property? Mr. Fenrir, you haven't even looked at it yet!"

"I don't care. All the other properties you've shown me don't suit my needs."

"But in the middle of a desert? Barren, flat desert?"

"It's a twenty mile drive from town, I work at home, and my wife home-schools the kids. This plot has a well, and I bought a ton of solar panels. I think we'll be fine, Mr. Tagg,"

"I...I-I..." The agent tried to protest, but there was an air of solidarity in his customer’s stance; there would be no swaying him easily, "But what about social interaction? I'm sure your children would want to have some friends,"

"They have very few friends, sir," the man explained, "and due to certain bullies and...other things, they prefer not to be around people." He straightened, "besides, their few trustworthy friends can still talk to them, and they'll know where we'll live." He leaned over, "And again besides, is it your place to ask these questions?"

He had a point. Mr. Tagg stood up and shook his customer's hand. "You're right. I'll get the deal signed with the landlord and you'll be all set."

"Thank you," Mr. Fenrir replied, "A new start is what I want,"

"I'm sure you'll get it," the tone of his voice and the look was in the agent's face made his customer rather uncomfortable.

"What?" Mr. Fenrir asked, "what's wrong?"

"Harry," The agent called his customer by his first name in a hushed voice, "be careful. That plot of land is not alone."

"What?"

"There are constructs out there. They've been abandoned for about three and a half years. It's about five miles away from where you are choosing to live."

"What can you tell me about it?"

"I can't tell you more than this," he looked to his left, right, and leaned in, "the radioactivity has long been scoured from the area, but the constructs you'll see out there..." His voice dropped very low, "be careful,"

\-------------------------

Margaret looked behind her, her three children were very quiet, a deviation from stopping the car every ten miles to yell at them to settle down.

Mary, their seven year old, was sitting in her booster seat nodding off to sleep. Anna, their fourteen year old, was fascinated with the landscape outside the window. Scott, their seventeen year old, was doing his usual drawing sessions complete with wild facial expressions.

"Everyone ok?" Margaret asked. The car had a forlorn feeling to it,

The two oldest stopped what they were doing and looked up, "Fine, mom, just tired," was Scott's response

"I just wanna be quiet, is that bad?" was Anna's

Harry looked at his children through the rear-view mirror, "Sad about the move, kiddos?"

"A little," Scott mumbled, "Charlie's not here, and I liked that guy,"

Charlie was a redhead boy about a year older, who was confined to a wheelchair and had a nasty scar across his face.

"I miss Harriet," Anna said quietly

The car suddenly grew gloomy at the name. Harriet was Anna's dear friend who died in a car crash years ago. Anna visited her grave at least once a week, and would tell her what she missed that week. It was heart-wrenching to think about.

"Well,” Harry put in to dispel the sadness, “Chicago held a lot of bad memories--"

"And bad people," Anna put in, inquiring the over-abundant amount of bullies there

"...yes, that too. So we're starting anew. Let's make 1976 a fresh start of a year, eh? And the best part is, no snow."

If there was one thing the whole family could agree on, was they all hated snow. White, cold, slippery, miserable snow. Snow days aside, they all hated the stuff.

"Well, let's hope this move is successful." Harry mused to himself as the car grew quiet again

After passing the last of the houses of the city suburbs, they found themselves in a barren wasteland of a desert. It was flat, brown, brush growing like no tomorrow, a few desert critters scampering off at the sound of the approaching car. They drove for about fifteen minutes and the welcoming sight of a freshly renovated house, their new home, came into sight.

They and the movers happily pulled into the driveway, Harry and Margaret directing where the boxes would go while the kids inspected their surroundings. Mary was so out cold that they laid her across the couch and let her sleep.

Anna was outside a few hours later, inspecting the new solar panels that had yet to be properly installed. She appeared to be mesmerized.

"Annie, be careful with those," Harry called out to his daughter,

"But daddy, it's so groovy," Anna replied, “the sunlight bounces off them this way and that and it makes patterns,”

Harry opened the fence and stepped into the would-be solar farm. He walked up to his daughter and patted her on the back, "Come on, don't you wanna see your room?"

"Sure, dad," Anna stopped inspecting the solar panels and walked alongside her father. Something caught her eye, "Wait," Her father stopped, "what's that?" She asked, pointing.

Harry strained to find her line of sight. He squinted to get past the glaring sun, but he couldn't see anything, "Annie, what are you seeing?"

Anna pulled him into the spot she was standing, "Now look,"

Harry squinted again, but still couldn't see anything--Wait...

There were some unnatural dots of color out in the desert. Harry waited a bit for the small heat fog to disperse. When it did, Harry's eyes widened and stood up straight.

"Oh. I think those are buildings Mr. Tagg told me about. I didn't see them at all while the renovation happened. How did you notice them?"

"I saw them when we first came here, but I forgot to ask you what they were."

Harry patted her head, "Observant girl,"

Anna leaned on her father, "Thanks, daddy,"

He led his daughter out from the solar panels and into the house, where she ran up the stairs to the bedrooms to find hers. Meanwhile, Harry had thought of a plan.


	2. The Constructs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just what exactly is the deal with those buildings out in the desert?

Night fell, and the air grew chill. They had unloaded everything from their car and the mover truck. They had unpacked their old golf cart.

"Be safe honey," Margaret said to her husband

"With crafty Scotty by my side, I'll be fine,"

"Same goes for you mister," Margaret scolded her son, "you watch out for yourself. You have lessons tomorrow and I would love to have you there by my side."

Scott rolled his eyes, "Yes, mom, I'll be there."

"Don't you roll your eyes at me young man."

"Sorry," Scott apologized quickly and meaninglessly, and crawled into the cart

"It's only about five or so miles out. We'll be back in about an hour, don't worry your pretty little head." He patted his wife's head lovingly, and crawled into the driver side of the cart and started it up.

"Be safe!" Margaret called out as they drove away.

The desert floor was so dry and baked that the cart sailed over the crust as if it were asphalt. Despite the inevitable dust they kicked up, it was smooth sailing.

They got close enough to see the silhouette of the structures against the late twilight sky.

"Scottie, shine your torch. See if you can catch a look." Scott obeyed.

The flashlight didn't illuminate much. It certainly didn't light up the constructs themselves, but rather the chain-link fence that surrounded it, and the millions of signs that were all around it.

"Huh, what's with all the signs?" 

"Well, Mr. Tagg did say it was abandoned for one reason or another, he wouldn't say why. Let's get closer," they drove closer.

They were close enough now to somewhat be able to tell what was on the signs.

"'Danger: Keep Out," Scott read one sign aloud, "Pretty much sums it up,"

"Looks like we ain't goin' in, unless we find an entrance to this fence. We’ll just see what these constructs are. Not breaking any rules, really."

“Sounds like you were planning to break some rules,”

Harry’s face was jokingly coy, “No comment,”

They got out of the golf cart and approached the fence. They shone their lights to read some of the other signs.

Warning: Toxic Materials Inside, Danger Within, Keep Out, Containment: Keep Out, Quarantine Alert: Stay Away, just to name a few.

"Sheesh, it's like this place was a lab for mad scientists or something," Harry commented

"Totally something from the movies. Maybe this was just a set?”

"No, they would've cleaned the place. And besides, no one owns this place anymore, according to Tagg. Too dangerous, I guess, for some unspecified reason."

Scott shone his flashlight inside the fence. Two separate buildings rather close to each other, and a small wooden bridge spanning a gap connected the two of them together. The bridge looked quite run down, a couple missing wood slabs on the roof and a pileup of water damage, but still sturdy looking.

"How long has this place been empty?"

"Five years, about? No, four, that's right. But really, no one knows the official date,"

"Huh..." Scott directed his attention to the buildings themselves, "This place could be safe from collapsing on us, given if some water line didn't erode anything important that happened to be wooden." His beam caught a giant logo printed on the side of one of the buildings, "RED," he squinted, "Reliable Excavation Demolition," He read slowly and carefully

His dad did the same with the other building, "Builder's League United, or BLU. Sounds like carpenter company names,"

"Ok, maybe not a mad scientist hob," Scott backed away, "but it's still creepy-looking. Like something would suddenly jump out and eat your face,"

"Let's go around to the other side," Harry began to jog to the other side

"Dad, do we really need to know any more?"

His dad paused, "Yes. You forget why we're here. We gotta make sure we thoroughly inspect this place; without actually going in, mind you,"

Scott rolled his eyes and caught up with his dad.

Sign, sign, sign, and guess what, more sign. That's all the fence had to offer. Danger, Keep Out, Warning, Quarantine, blah blah blah. It got boring quick.

"Dad, really. If you wanna read the same message over and over go ahead. I don't wanna--" Scott paused. Something new caught his eye.

He shone his light at one certain sign that was hanging on by one metal tie, the other broken off. There was a white envelope attached to it. It has obviously been rain soaked more than once, but still managed to hold onto its own tie.

"Huh..." In his own curiosity, he took it down. He stared at it for a bit, trying to see the pen writing scribbled on the back.

He squinted, "To...whoever...it may...concern...uh...I can't read that one part," he mused to himself

"Scotty!" 

Scott jumped and shoved the letter in his coat. His dad came bounding towards him.

"Hey, I thought you were behind me. Something catch your eye?"

"Uh..." Scott was horrible at lying, "No. Not really. Probably just some blowing paper or something."

His father looked at him waywardly, but let it drop, "Alright. Now that we got an inkling enough to satisfy my curiosity, let's go home. We can't do anything more unless we break some rules. Let's scare your mother by arriving early," he had that mischievous look that always lead to fun.

"Heehee, let's go." Scott took off towards the cart, followed close behind by his father.

They started up the cart, revved the engine, and took off into the desert. When they got close enough to see the lights and the solar panels, they stopped and turned the engine off.

"Let's just push it into its place and then scare your mother," Harry chuckled evilly.

"Heehee, gotcha!" 

The two of them pushed the cart the short distance and parked it right in its special groove, "This way," Harry ushered his son, "we'll go in the back way,"

This was one of the many reasons Scott loved his father, all the fun messes they got into together.

On the way to the back door was a window, and they couldn't help but stop and look through it. Harry giggled, "Watching television, eh? She's gonna leave a hole in the roof,"

Scott laughed, "She's gonna be sooooo mad!"

"Nah, she'll be mad at first, then she'll laugh. She can laugh at herself,"

They continued sneaking around the back. It was unlocked. They giggled to themselves one last time. "One," Harry mouthed, "Two..." They both held their breaths, "Three!" They swung the door wide open, "HONEY, I'M HOME!!" Harry and Scott yelled out in unison

"GAH!!!" Margaret jumped at least a foot in the air, throwing whatever she was holding in her hands across the room

The two were in a horrible laughing fit, laughing too hard to stand, tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Y-you two!" Margaret was so shaken up at the shock she was shaking herself, "That's not f-funny! You could wake up Mary!" The two were still laughing too hard to answer, "If you two wake up Mary, there will be consequences!" Margaret tried her hardest to sound angry, but anyone could tell she was starting to laugh

Harry had stopped laughing hard enough to answer, but it was warped by his laughter, "It was--hahahaha!!--totally worth it! Hahahahahaaaa!! Your face--hohohohohohoho--your face!" Harry couldn't stop

Margaret's face softened, then turned up in a smile, "Ok ok," she chuckled out, "I guess it was kinda funny," her face flushed deep red, "But really, if you wake up Mary, you won't be laughing."

Scott was the first to stop laughing so hard, but was still breathing hard. He got to his feet. Harry followed suit soon after.

"So, what was it?" Margaret asked

"Huh? Oh," it took a moment to register what she was asking, "Oh uh, not entirely sure. We can't find out any more without going in."

"Going in?"

"It's, uh, surrounded by a chain link fence, one that's clad in many Keep Out signs. Mr. Tagg did say anything toxic had been scoured away, but that place gave Scotty here the chills," Harry put a hand on his son's shoulder, who quickly shoved it away,

"Shut up, dad. Anything like that looks creepy when it's dark."

"Yeah, sure."

"Anything else?" Margaret was still curious

"It's not just one building, it's several buildings," 

This was new to Scott, "Really? I only saw two. That RED building and that BLU building. Well, I guess the covered bridge,"

"Well, the RED building boasts several other buildings, and equipment. Didn't look at the BLU side though, but I bet it's similar."

Margaret looked intrigued, Harry prompted to send his son off, "Scott, why don't you head off to bed, we can have this discussion in the morning,"

Scott bounded upstairs to his room, closed his door, and locked it. He took off his coat, set it down on his bed, and sat on the bed himself. He dug around the pockets and pulled out the letter. Thanks to the better light, the words or excuse for such were more readable.

"To whoever it may concern..." He squinted, but could only make out a "B A". The letters have faded and run to the point where it was nothing more than streaks of ink. "Whatever," He turned the letter over and began to rip into the rain-wrinkled envelope

He pulled out an equally rain-wrinkled letter, scrawled in ink as well. He smoothed out the wrinkles and examined it. Instead of running from the water, it was splotched with the ink. While it was annoying it was much easier to read than the envelope.

_To whom it may concern,_

_If you are reading this letter, that means you were dumb enough to find the dreaded 2fort, but smart enough to take time out of your day to stop and read this letter._

_I bet you're wondering why there are all these quarantine signs all over this place. I would tell you all, but it would bring you to conclusions you never wanted. I'll just say what danger lays here._

_There is something foul in our systems, something toxic. The entire grounds reeks with it. It's not safe to breath in the terrible air or drink any water within a half-mile radius of where our 2fort stands. We believe there was something off about the shipments of rations and supplies we received for the month. If you find any food at all in 2fort, don't even touch it._

_But maybe even worse, and I don't know if this is a fact or not, but there are other dangers other than the toxicity. Someone or something terrorized us while we were there, and there may be more than one. They were left for dead or worse when the rest of us abandoned the place. It/they may have died in the time this is read, and for your sake, I surely do hope so. If you have want or envision purpose of the former 2fort, these things are the last things you want to have in your way._

_This is my warning; I advise nothing to do with this horrible place, for there will be severe backlash either way. But if you insist, I hope that if you want to turn our 2fort into something else other than what it once was, I hope you use it for something else other than the selfish and stupid reason it was used originally._

_I will not sign my name, but I will sign the date_

_8/30/1972_

Scott did the mental math. This letter was written three years and three months ago, and about ten days before. Still quite a while ago. It was interesting: something horrible happened and clearly, the evidence remained. Normally Scott wouldn't care...

He put the letter back in the envelope, shoved it into his bedside table drawer, turned off the lamp, and laid down to go to sleep.

Yes, normally Scott would leave well enough alone, but that letter didn't make him want to stay away, 

It just made him curious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still no mercs yet! But don't be upset, they're coming, just wanna get some buildup. I want the monsters' appearance to be impactful to the fullest


	3. Camping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to head off and rebel a little, eh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still a bit of filler! I'm trying to establish the personalities of these kiddos a bit before we head on into the fray. Enjoy their squabbling!

"Scott!" Margaret called for her son, "Honey, come downstairs now!"

"Mom I'm peeing!" Scott's reply was slightly muffled

"Fine, hurry up!" She waited, and the flushing sounded and her son came bounding down the stairs soon after.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"You finish your history assignment?"

Scott bounded back upstairs and came back with a packet of lined paper.

"Yes," he handed the report over

She briefly scanned it, the set it aside for later review, "Very good," She grabbed her purse, "Me and your father are going on a shopping trip, you are in charge of the girls. Do you have anything to tell me before we go?"

"Can I go camping tonight?"

This made her pause, rarely did such an answer follow such a question, "What?"

"I want to camping tonight, alone, if I can help it."

Margaret’s senses were still spinning from such an answer, “You’ve…never really liked camping before, let alone all by your onesie. What spurred this on?”

“Well, look where we are,” He made a sweeping pose to indicate their surroundings, “we’re kind of all alone out here, and there’s a lot of ‘out there.’ It’s something to do,”

"Well,” She rubbed the back of her neck, thinking it over, “where are you going?" 

"Not far. Maybe about a mile or so." He looked out the window, "And why not? I got the report done, didn't I?"

Margaret looked at him with mixed emotions, then shrugged, "I'll talk to your father about it. When do you plan to go, this afternoon?"

"About 12 or so. I'd like to go sooner, but I doubt I can,"

"You're gonna have to take the girls with you if you're going before we get back,"

"What?? Awww, MAN!!"

"Then I suggest you wait until we get back before taking off." She fished for her keys, "Are you taking the cart?"

"Yeah,"

"Be careful with it. I don't want the cart and, more importantly, you and your passengers hurt. (Where are those darn keys?)"

Harry came out of his office, dangling a familiar key chain, "Sorry, honey. Had to open something." He approached her and gave her a kiss, "Ready?"

"Yes. Oh, Scott wants to go camping. He wants to camp all day today."

Harry looked surprised, almost as taken off-guard as his lovely wife was, "Camping, eh? Are you taking the girls?"

"No, I want to go alone," Scott tried to keep his face emotionless. His eye twitched

Harry looked at him sternly, "Where are you planning to go?"

"I'm gonna drive around until I find a spot. No more than a mile or two away."

Harry suspected something, "You're not going to those constructs, are you, boy?"

"No!" Scott flung his arm in a dramatic gesture, "That place scares me. I don't want to be anywhere near that place come nightfall," 

His father stared holes into his son, then resigned, "I believe him," He tossed the keys up and down in his hand, "and if you do leave before we come back, leave a note,"

"10-4 father,"

His dad gave him one last, suspecting glare, then he and his wife disappeared out the door. After a minute, the sound of their car roared to life and soon faded away. Good, now he can complete his objective.

Scott walked out to the garage, grabbed a sleeping bag, a tent, campfire cooking and eating utilities, a folding chair and a table. He walked back into the kitchen with his hands full to find Anna sitting on the kitchen counter Indian-style and her head cocked to one side.

"What'cha doin'?" She asked in her annoyingly innocent voice

"Getting stuff. And you shouldn't be up there, you know,"

"Stuff? What kind of stuff?" She scooted closer and leaned in. She knew how to make Scott uncomfortable.

"Stuff stuff, now get down," Scott plopped the gear onto the floor

"Looks like camping stuff. Where you goin’, Scotty-Wotty-Potty?" Anna mocked in a baby voice

Scott groaned loudly in defeat, throwing his head back and curling his fingers, "Yes, I'm going camping, alone, don't call me that dumb name, and GET OFF THE COUNTER!!"

"Alright alright," Anna got off the counter and got up right next to her brother, "Can I come?"

"Didn't you just hear me? I'm going alone, PLEASE."

"No, I wanna go camping,"

"You need to stay and watch Mary,"

"No, I wanna go camping,"

"I wanna go alone," Scott said much more sternly

Anna leaned against him harder, "Camping,"

"No,"

"Camping,"

"No!"

"Camping,"

"NO!!"

Pause, "Camping,"

"Anna!" He stepped forcefully to the side and caught falling Anna by her wrists, "Listen to the words coming out of my mouth, I. Want. To. Go. ALONE!! By me onesie. Get that through your head,"

"Well, it's damaged," she wrestled herself out of her brother's grip, "and I want to go with you,"

He didn’t fight her; what she just said hit a nerve in him. He sighed, defeated, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Anna, don't bring that up, and what I mean is you CAN'T come with me,"

"Why?"

Scott hung his head; no backing out of this one, "I'm not just going camping, I'm going exploring,"

"Exploring? Where?"

He hesitated, "Those buildings way out there,"

Anna's face lit up in surprise, "There? Didn't you and dad do that last week?"

"Yes... we did... but that was just to see what it was, and we only saw the outside edge. I wanna see the inside,"

"Why? Isn't it danger-ous there?"

"That's what all those signs said, but I'm too curious. It's constantly on my mind, driving me crazy."

"Oh..."

"Now you have to come. I don't trust you with my secrets." Scott looked at her half-threateningly

This did nothing, "Ok!" Then it hit her, "What about Mary?"

Right on cue, the seven year old walked in holding a small sleeping bag, her thick glasses askew, "I wanna go camping,"

Anna and Scott looked at each other contemplatively 

"Uh..." Anna droned

"No, it's just me and Anna. You're too young," Scott barked sternly

She stamped her foot, "I'm not a baby! I'm a big girl! I WANNA GO CAMPING!!" She began wailing loudly. Thank God there were no neighbors,

"No! It's just for me and Anna!" Scott crossed his arms and stood off

Anna copied his stance, "Yeah, it's too dangerous for little babies!" She instantly clapped her hands over her mouth

Mary wailed even louder, threw her sleeping bag down hard and ran into her room. They heard a door slam and her crying muffled.

Anna looked scared, "I'm sorry, it came out!"

"And that's why you're coming. C'mon, help me load this stuff up,"

They loaded up the cart with all their stuff. They were about to go, when Scott slapped his face in realization.

"What?" 

"I forgot the food!"

"Can't have a 'camping' trip without food," Anna said simply, "I'll help you," she crawled out of her seat and joined her brother's side.

They grabbed a cooler, filled it with a few camping necessities, and loaded it up into the cart. Standing back, second thought, was all this stuff really needed? And there really no way to sit comfortably.

Anna inhaled deeply, "These are the nesses- the c- the uh..."

"Bare minimum?" Scott finished for her, raising his eyebrows

"I hate it when you do that, and yes, the bare minimum,"

"Lesse...tent, sleeping bags, cooking stuff, plates and utensils, chairs, food, blankets...yes, I think we have nothing but the bare minimum,"

"You drive, I'll hold some-thing, if that's ok,"

Scott face palmed, "Of course. Hold the cooler, it's the lightest,"

She put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a wry look, "Leave it to me to think of these things. It's the gift of the mentally damaged,"

"Uh--" Scott absolutely hated when she threw that around, but before he could retort anything, she had clambered into the passenger seat with the cooler in her lap, ready to go. He sighed and climbed into his own seat, "I hate it when you bring that up; it's not funny. You wouldn't like it if I poured salt on an open wound, would you?"

She looked at him quizzically, "Would that hurt?"

Scott let his head drop onto the wheel, "Yes, it would; it would sting for hours,"

"Oh...ok, I won't throw it around," she hung her head, "if that's what it feels like,"

They sat there in silence for a moment, then Scott started up the cart. Anna whirled around and squinted at something kicking up a dust cloud a little ways away, and quickly figured out what it was, "Hey, look! It's mom and dad!"

Scott snapped his head to her line of sight, and sure enough, the overly familiar powder blue Buick was speeding down the trail, kicking up a dirt cloud in its wake. "Huh, we can leave right now! A few seconds of leaving Mary alone isn't gonna really hurt anything,"

He revved the cart, and sped off into the desert.

\------------------

Scott drove off in a direction that looked like he wasn't going directly to the constructs, just to give his parents a peace of mind. After about a half mile, he turned slightly towards the 2fort. He was driving around in no apparent pattern for about half and hour, when Anna sparked an epiphany.

"Scott," Anna said over the noise of the cart

"Huh,"

"I'm finding it weird that you're wanting to explore. You don't do that normally. You're the kind of person that would rather sit up in your room and do quiet stuff. You don't pry at most things,"

Scott, though focused on the land in front of him, held a look of "that's true". He sighed, "You're right, Anna, I normally would just be a homebody and be quiet. Leave well enough alone." He hung his head slightly, "Once we set up camp and get everything done, I'll tell you why," Anna agreed.

Another half hour or so of driving around, they decided on a place. A place where the 2fort was in sight and walking distance.

They parked the cart and got the tent out. Something pink and floral popped out and fell to the ground.

Anna picked it up, "Looks like we ac-cid-en-tally packed Mary's sleeping bag,"

Something else popped out, knocking some of the chairs off. "Camping!" The little girl called out happily

Anna and Scott jumped in surprise, letting out a small scream, "Mary!" Scott yelled at his sister, "You stowed away with us?!"

"When did you crawl in there?!" Anna finished

"When you guys got the cooler," the little girl replied

Scott threw his head back and groaned loudly, "You just ruined everything! Now I can't do this and I have to watch you guys and grrrbrancklmerl!!" He began to mutter angrily through gritted teeth, all the while kicking and punching the air next to him

Anna backed away, "You're scary," she said in a low squeaky voice.

Scott stopped, sighed loudly, and rubbed his forehead, "Anna, is it possible that you would stay with Mary while I go off?"

"No, I wanna see what's in there as much as you do,"

"I figured..." Scott pinched the bridge of his nose again, "Do you want to stay here at camp, Mary?"

"No!" Mary snapped, "I wanna go exploring!"

"I thought you wanted to go camping," Anna retorted

"That too, but exploring first!" Mary snapped back

Scott threw his arms up in defeat, "Alrighty then, fine!" He yelled, "you guys can explore 2fort with me! Just don't expect for me to--!"

"2fort? What's 2fort?" Anna interrupted, "I thought we were gonna look at those," She pointed towards said constructs

Scott paused, "Uhhh...that's what it's called, Annie. It's the name of the constructs," He rubbed the back of his head

"Oh, ok then,”

Without saying much, they set up the tent, got the stuff inside, built a fire ring, and Scott set out to gather wood to build a fire. He got back with some dry brush in hand. They set their chairs around the fire ring and waited.

"Well," Anna gestured towards her brother after a short while, "we're waiting,"

Scott fished in his jacket and pulled out the letter, "This," he shook it once, "is why we're here,"

"A wrinkled envelope?" Anna retorted smugly

"No. Not a 'wrinkled envelope'. The letter," he pulled out the contents, "inside...duh,"

"Shut up..." Anna leaned back and crossed her arms and legs

Scott sighed, again, "This letter is why we're here. Would any one of you two be willing to read it?" Scott asked somewhat mocking

"Pfffft, no," Anna turned her head to the side

"Does it have big words?" Mary asked in innocently (golly, those glasses made her looks like an adorable little owl)

"Yes, it does." He answered Mary's question directly, "Nobody? Nobody wants to read what this letter holds? Nobody wants to read why we're going off exploring?" Scott's voice sounded like a mocking game show host.

"If it's a dumb letter someone sent you that sent us here, this is looking more and more like just a camping trip and less like an exploration mission. What does it say, 'Hey man, go check out this place, man! It's sooooo groovy!'" Anna deepened and slurred her voice to sound like one of those druggie hippies

Scott waited for her to finish, then to stare condescendingly at her, "NO," he answered just as sternly, "And no guy just mailed it to me, it was over there, attached to a sign,”

"Ok then, stealing property. Great," Anna still wasn't convinced

"ANNA, focus!" Scott shook his curled hands, "This sparked my curiosity, ok?! Now if no one else is gonna read it, then I will," He unfolded the letter and read it aloud

After he finished, he put the letter back in the envelope and waited for response.

Anna still looked unimpressed; more annoyed now but unimpressed. Mary's eyes were wide from confusion.

Silence, "Well?" Scott broke it

"If that sss-purred your curi-o-sity, I see it. I don’t see how that made you want to actually do it." Anna retorted, "I'm not in the mood for getting killed off any time soon,"

"Well then," Scott clapped once and got up, a wry look in his eyes, "I'll just go alone then," He started off towards 2fort, "Have fun being girly," 

Scott walked a few steps, “Alright! Alright! I'm coming!" Anna leapt to his side, "But that does mean that Mary has to come along,"

Scott stopped dead in his tracks. That fact slipped his mind. He facepalmed while the little girl bounded to their side.

"Anna, do you really want to have your little sister along with me? Walking along on toxic ground? Possibly running into nasty little critters?"

"No," 

"Then stay here with her, keep her safe," 

"No way! We're here and there's a safari waiting for us out there--!"

"That word doesn't really work there,"

"Besides the point! You--the oldest and the one with the re-spons-ibil-ity- are going off exploring while me--the one with brain damage--and her--the one who's barely potty trained- sits here to be food for the coyotes!"

Scott ignored the brain damage comment, "I dunno, maybe you shouldn't've come along,"

Anna paused. He got her. Nothing smart to retort back about that. She slouched over in angry defeat, "Darn you..." She mumbled out

"You're still coming, you know?" Scott said, deadpan, "You have a valid point, so I'm gonna be 'responsible' by not letting my sissies become coyote chow,"

Anna was silent, then she straightened, "I just hope I don't grow a third eye," 

"Alright then! Let's go!" Scott waved them on, and all three of them ran off towards the buildings.

\---------------

"C-Caw-shun," Mary struggled to read a giant yellow sign, "r-radeeoh-active,"

Scott groaned as he tried to find a foothold, "Very good, Mary," He climbed up a little higher, "What does the next one say?" He voice strained with effort

"Dane-jer," her voice was slow and enunciating, "Tox-ick,"

Scott struggled again to find a foothold, when he heard the fence rattle and a thud. Anna was already on the other side, and smirking.

"Hey!" Scott droned, "No fair!" Anna smirked even wider and opened her mouth to speak, "Don't. Say it..." Scott clambered up the first side and leaned on the top of the fence. He jumped down, landing less than gracefully. "Oof!"

Anna leaned over, "I'll say it now:" She inhaled deeply

Scout pointed at her, "Don't. Even. You promised not to salt the wound,"

Anna straightened, "You ruin the fun of it all,"

Scott gingerly got to his feet. "Now let's get Mary over here," He looked towards where she was standing before, but she was gone, "Mary?"

"Scott--" Anna tried to catch his attention, but failed

"Oh no, she's gone!" He began to panic, "Did some hawk come in and grab her while we weren't looking?! Did she become coyote chow?!"

"Scott-!!" Anna failed once again at grabbing her brother's attention

"Oh bad! Now we have to go find her and try and save her and if not tell the bad news to Mom and Dad!" Scott made to climb up the fence again

**"SCOTT!!"**

**"WHAT?!"**

"Look to your left,"

He did, and instantly felt stupid, "Oh..." Mary was on their side of the fence, staring at him all confused, and her dress all dirty. "How'd you get over here so fast?"

"There's a hole in the fence," she pointed, and sure enough, there was.

Scott facepalmed. Anna walked over to it to investigate, "It's only big enough for her,"

"Great, we'll call that plan B," Scott spat

He turned around and his sisters followed suit. "Well, I'll bet there's a layout or schematic of this place somewhere. Why don't we look in....the RED building," Scott chose by random, "Stay close to me, no wandering off! Got it?"

"Yeah," "Yes,"

"Ok, single file," And so they started their little quest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Monsters coming next chapter! Yay!


	4. Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scars of land, scars of mind, scars of reality. Take your pick

Scott found every door and window open or broken, so there were splinters and glass everywhere inside. They all had good solid shoes on, but they had to watch their step everywhere.

Someone was optimistic, "At least it's not moldy," Mary stated the truth, it was dry and decrepit instead.

It didn't take them long to find a rusting file cabinet. "Now lessee..." Scott pulled one of the drawers open and started leafing through the files, "schematics schematics schematics schematics--ah! Here we go!" He pulled out a yellowed piece of paper, donned with x-ray doodles of 2fort, the ventilation, plumbing, everything.

"Alright, I say we can just bop around now that we know where we're going," Anna was getting bored fast

"No, you can stay right next to me and follow me while I bop around," Scott retorted back, "I'm the one with the map, thank you very much!"

"Pfft," was all Anna's response

"Where to now, Scotty?" Mary had sat on a folding chair and waited for instruction, looking totally adorable.

"Alright then, follow me!"

Anna dragged her feet and Mary bounced behind her.

They wandered along in single file, Scott leading with his nose in his map, Anna wanting desperately to just run off without anyone noticing, and little Mary just having a grand old time taking up the rear. They wandered into a conference hall.

"Ok, this should be the...'Intelligence Room'..." Scott said the name deadpan

"'Intell-i-gence Room'?" Anna retorted, "What kind of name is that? Is this some kind of classroom? Or where geniuses sit around and talk?" Anna was obviously not impressed, "I'm not impressed," See?

"Well, if we knew anybody that worked here they'd probably tell us," Scott jammed his nose right back into the map, "but we don't, now do we?"

Mary sat on one of the many revolving seats and began to spin around, "Weeeeee!!"

"Mary, get off that. You don't know where it's been,"

"Yeah, people's butts. It's a real concern," 

"I don't need the sarcasm, Annie, or would you like to go back to the tent and just wait for us to get back?"

"If something interesting would finally show up, no. Otherwise, maybe it would be funner to,"

"It's 'more fun', Anna,"

"Shut up,"

Mary had gotten off the chair as she was told and had taken the liberty to stand right in front of both of them and stare, just stare.

Awkward silence

"Mary, why are you looking at us like that?"

"Be nice, or I'll tell mommy,"

"You're bluffing,"

"No, I'm not bluffing,"

"Darn it,"

"I mean it, that's what!"

It took a second for the boy to realize what exactly she had meant by that. She obviously had no idea what bluffing meant and still managed to get her message across.

"Don't tell that to me, tell Ms. Whiney-Pants!" He jabbed his thumb in his sister’s direction

Anna was about to say something mean back, "No name calling!" Mary yelled out, "Be nice!" She crossed her arms and leaned to one side, her cute face completely serious, cartoonishly serious

They all were taken aback by their youngest sister's sudden authority, but by the caliber of her threats, they had no choice but to give in and obey.

"Fine, I'll be nice," Scott rolled his eyes and waited for Anna's response

It took a moment, "Ugh, fine! I'll bear it," she finally threw her arms up and admitted

"Thank you," Mary said in response, "Scott, where are we going now?" Her cute innocent demeanor is back

Scott scanned the schematics, "Erm...Let's check out this 'Respawn Room', as the map puts it,"

Anna was finally interested slightly, "Respawn Room? What did that hold, tadpoles?"

"Let's go see," 

They meandered through the RED base, looking at different rooms, wondering why the heck they were named such, and marveling the absolutely genius way the structure was built. It was so sound not even a bazooka would shake its foundation. But, alas, the RED base could only hold so much.

Scott double-checked his map one last time, "Alright, I do think we've explored this entire place, and--"

"Wait, we didn't explore these tunnels," Anna pointed out

Scott rolled his eyes, "That's the plumbing and ventilation systems. Unless you wanna roll around in years-old poo water and suffer claustrophobia, I highly suggest against exploring it."

Anna wasn't moved, "So?"

"No," Scott said sternly, "Let's go to the next base; Anna?"

"Present..." Bratty Anna was back

"Mary?"

"I'm here!" The little girl chimed happily

"Alright then! Single file please,"

They all lined up Scott-Anna-Mary and went on their merry way. Scott's nose was buried in the schematics, Anna was pout-walking, and Mary was taking in the sights again.

Scott was (by now this was normal) muttering to himself about how the radiation thing seemed to be a joke, and he wasn't doing it quietly. One could clearly hear what he was saying. "...ation, ha! This place has been scoured clean! Don't know how they did it but I don't care! Heehee, and no 'scary creatures' terrorizing us yet! Ha!" His last "ha!" was quite loud.

"Yeah, well we've only seen half the grounds, now hasen’t we?" Anna snottily spat

Scott seemed to be a bit surprised, “It’s ‘haven’t,’" His tone was matter-of-fact, "if anything was mad at us for stalking near their territory, they'd have come and ambushed us already,"

"Yeah I guess you're right...but how do we know it isn't b-biding it's time?"

"We don't, but chances still seem pretty good it, they, whatever died sometime in the past few years,"

Even though the discussion wasn't a shouting match (yet) and relatively friendly, Mary still was a bit ticked that they couldn't not bicker for a few minutes. She looked to the side in annoyance and groaned, and noticed something she didn't notice before. There was a small groove of a room, no door but a large busted window, and right by a vent which grate had fallen off, a small patch of grass was growing right from the cement! It had a cute little patch of flowers growing in it to boot! You don't see that often in the desert, and even less so in buildings! Not thinking twice about it, and her older siblings too involved in their conversation to notice, Mary ran off into the room.

On her way to the grass, she stubbed her toe a little on a rusty chair, which slid a little and made a slight screech as it scraped the cement. She cried out in surprise, but nothing could deter her from sitting in that one little patch of grass. She quickly bounded her way over to the patch of grass, her shoes making a lot of noise, and she sat on her knees on the grass. She began to try and see what kind of flowers were growing. It wouldn’t be too hard, her favorite book was a kid's picture dictionary of flower types

"Um..." She plucked one up and thought hard, "I think this one's a petunia. No, a forget-me-not! Yeah! It's a forget-me-not! Now what's this one? A...uh...violet? No no, it can't be a violet. It's a...uhhh..." She strained her brain, "No, I think it is a violet. I'll just say it's a violet. Oh, this one's easy, a rose! A nice, pretty, red rose!" She leaned in to smell it,

_Tak, tak, tak, tak..._

The noise made Mary pause and look up. It sounded like something tapping lightly on metal. Must be Scott and Anna throwing something against the side of the building--realization hit her, "I wandered away from my siblings," She said quietly, "I bet they're looking for me," She made to get up,

**SKREEEHHHR!!**

Something grabbed her legs and pulled off to the side, making her fall down, "Ahh!!" She cried out in pain and fear. Something was pulling her, dragging her hard and fast. Her natural instinct kicked in. She clawed at the ground, grabbed onto stuff, all the while trying desperately to scream, but she was so scared little sound came out. All she could muster was frantic whimpers and yelps.

The daylight was blocked out from around her, and she felt herself get flung against a hard metal wall, the wind knocked out of her. Breathing hard, she looked up, fear coloring her everything, and she saw it. It was at first a silhouette, but when her eyes adjusted, the light illuminated its features.

It's eyes cast their own light, a yellow light; that was the first thing evident. It wore a beaten baseball cap, and wore its cap over it's long, filthy hair; next thing evident. It's features looked like they were once human, but now all it looked was feral. Ripped, tattered, filthy clothes; long, pointed, inhuman ears; a pushed out, snakish nose; long fangs pushing the scarred lips out and away; a hard hunch with a long neck; and the eyes...oh the eyes...large, yellow, slit pupiled, and bloodshot. They glowed an angry, hungry glow.

Even though she was against the duct wall, she tried to back away even farther, letting out a terrified whimper. It began to get closer, growling and smiling.

Even though Mary's vocal chords were constricting, she tried to say something, "Heh--eh--puh--pl--Plea-please d-don't--eat m-me," With nowhere else to go, she sunk to the floor.

Then the thing did something that surprised the little girl. It stopped growling, and its expression changed from one of hungry malice to one of slight surprise and curiosity. It even cocked it's head to one side.

Now more confused than scared, Mary relaxed a bit and poked her head up a bit higher. It pensively got closer, up to the point where its nose almost touched her own. He sniffed her a couple times, his growlings falling and rising questioningly.

"I-I'm a girl, m-mister," She squeaked out, trying very hard not to tremble

His head moved to the other side, his eyebrows knitting together. He slowly lifted a paw (which was incredibly rough and had 2 inch long sharp claws) to her face. Mary tensed, but relaxed in even more confusion; he had gingerly taken off her glasses and was instantly enthralled with them.

The girl had never been more confused in her life, "W-what?"

He was examining her glasses like they were a priceless and fascinating artifact; turning it over, sniffing it, even licking it. He growled in question again, never taking his eyes off of the glasses.

"They're my glasses," she was a lot less afraid considering how confused she was, "I need them to see better,"

Upon hearing this, he brought the glasses over his eyes. Almost instantly he pulled away, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. He growled once in disapproval and handed them back to the girl, who quickly put them back on.

"They're really strong; I'm nearly blind. They hurt other people's eyes if they wear them. That's why they made fun of me; calling me names like Mary Hoot Hoot and Four-Eyes," She looked at him in his slit-pupiled, curious eyes, "You won't make fun of me, will you?"

He grunted once, turning his head, then lunged towards her. She shrieked and closed her eyes, waiting for pain,

She didn't end up feeling pain, but rather her dress get pulled forward and to drag her along with it. She found herself being dragged along her back, and the curious beast transporting her by her dress through the duct.

"Mister? What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" She turned her head to see where, but she was greeted by gaping darkness. She squeaked and closed her eyes.

The darkness quickly swallowed the two of them, but the thing wasn't deterred. It continued on, weaving in and out through the darkness of the duct like it was the back of his hand. Mary stole a peak; the creature was moving silently and quickly, his long claws making a silent _takity takity takity_ sound. His glowing eyes illuminated the way ahead slightly, but it didn't seem to matter much to him; he knew this system too well.

Mary was silent, she didn't know whether to be scared or happy or what. Her thoughts were colored confused, but her instincts were still sharp as a tack.

It weaved side to side, up and down, taking her deep into the duct. She hit against the walls and his legs from time to time, moving forward when he paused to turn, and her dress and small satchel sometimes snagging and ripping a bit. After about five minutes of bobbing and weaving through the cold metal, the ducts opened up. The creature slowed down, and the girl found herself on something soft.

She sat up, confused once again. "Where am I? Uh, we?" She looked around, but it was too dark still to see anything, nothing more than a gaping black cavern.

The creature growled, but it had distinct tones to it, almost like he said something, "Huh?" She turned to the direction of the noise, and found his bright yellow eyes,

"Hhhhommme," He growled long and somewhat clearer

"Home?" She echoed, "You live here?" She felt the softness below her, and found they were blankets and pillows. He growled in approval.

"Can I stand up?" Mary got up and slowly straightened. She managed to stand all the way up, "Is this still the vent?" She reached up and touched the ceiling about a few inches up. He grunted once, "Can I walk around?" She made to step off the blankets.

She heard a close thump and he was right by her side. This startled her a little, but she reached out to touch him. He growled and drew away. Startled, she snapped her hand back to her side, "Sorry,"

He was quiet for a moment, then he hopped away somewhere in the room. Judging by where the light from his eyes hit, he was on the other side. The room wasn’t all that big.

"Did I offend you?" She said quietly, worried she hurt his feelings

He turned around, "Nooo..." He growled, shaking his head slightly

"Oh ok..." She sat back down on the blankets

She could hear him shuffling around something, clanging together metallically occasionally, thumbing woodenly, or the sound of papers rustling, "Are you looking for something?" She craned her neck to try and see. He grunted once and continued his search, "Do you need light? I think I have some," she started shuffling around in her satchel

He exclaimed loudly, making her jump and pull her hand out reflexively,"What?! What is it?" She looked around for him.

He grunted quietly. By this time Mary had grown used to the dark enough to make out his silhouette, and whatever he was holding. He crawled not so quietly to her, the objects he was holding clanking and thumping. He sat down next to her and held out the first thing. From what Mary could see, it looked like a furry blob.

She gingerly took it and inspected it, "A hat?" He grunted in confirmation, head bobbing up and down, "It's a snow hat, isn't it?" He grunted again

She felt around for the hole and put it on. His eyes smiled.

He grunted again and held out the other thing, which appeared to be a colored metal cylinder. She didn’t know what it was supposed to be, but took the cylinder anyway.

Upon a closer look, it appeared to be a soda can. With her eyes as adjusted as they were, she was faintly able to make out the label, but not enough to see what it spelled out.

"I can't see what it says, really," She was squinting and turning it to try and catch some light to read it. The creature looked down at the can, casting enough light to make out the label.

"BONK?" She asked, "I've never heard of this soda. Is it any good?" He nodded energetically, emitting a happy rasp. "Ok..." She opened the can with a _tssk_ and took a small sip. Her eyes widened, "Ugh, whoa!" It tasted old and flat, but a small surge of energy pulsated through her. She felt like she could run all the way home. "Is this alcohol?"

He shook his head, "Shuuu-guuuur," he rasped slowly

"That's a lot of sugar," She looked down at the can, "It's not bad, just old," she took another small drink and felt the same sensation, "Whoo..."

He was looking at the can longingly, and Mary noticed, "You like this?" He flinched, then nodded slowly, "You want some?" He hesitated again, and nodded slowly. She held the can out to him, an innocent smile on her face, "Here, have some!"

He flinched and drew away, but eventually took the can gingerly. He paused, then brought the can up to his lips and tipped it. His eyes widened and he dropped the can, spilling the soda on the metal. He then began to thrash around, hitting the metal walls and sending stuff flying.

Mary, shocked, stood and held her hands up, "Whoa whoa whoa, are you ok?!" He almost ran into her, "Hey! It's ok, c-calm down!!"

He continued to thrash around, yelping in energy-fueled fear.

"Hey!" She leapt for him, grabbing him around the waist and pulling him down, "C-calm down! It's ok!"

He squirmed powerfully for a few seconds, but soon lost his energy and fell completely limp. He moaned tiredly before falling into hard panting. She released his grip on him, "You're so skinny! I can feel your ribs through your clothes!" He moaned tiredly again, but this time with a dash of sadness, "Are you hungry? Here," she began to rummage through her little satchel, "I think I have a sandwich in here,"

He perked up a little, his head snapping up from off the cold metal. "Sssssand-wich?" He growled tiredly but hopefully

"Yeah, it's gotta be in here somewhere..." She continued to rummage, "It's ham and cheese. Aw, I can't see!" She squinted and brought her head closer, "There it is," She reached in and pulled out a plastic baggie, holding two triangular slices of a sandwich, "Here," She opened the bag and brought out the first half, "you can have this half," He took it gingerly, sniffed it, then took a small nibble, "And I'll have this half," She took out the other half and put the empty baggie in her satchel, "Enjoy!" She took a big bite

He took the first few bites cautiously, but he quickly devoured the sandwich in two huge bites, chewing loudly. Mary was astonished; he really was hungry. Guilt quickly set in.

"H-here," She split her half and handed him the bigger piece, "You need it more than I do,"

He stared at the gift for a sec, then growled and shook his head, "Youuuu eat it," He growled out

"C'mon, please?" She held a begging look, "For me?" A small pause, then he took it and inhaled it, "I'm not really all that hungry. I ate before I left," She (much more politely) finished her portion. "Hey, I should really clean up that soda spill before it ruins something important," She began rummaging in her satchel again. He grunted once in surprise, then began to urge her not to. "Hey, it's ok! It's a girl's role, anyway," She continued to fish, and then her hand clasped something, "Hey, my flashlight!" She pulled it out, "I found it!"

He yelped in alarm, but it was too late for the girl to react. She flicked on the contraption and filled the small room with a harsh yellow light. He howled in pain and covered his eyes.

"Huh?! Oh my, I-I'm sorry! I-I'll turn it off--" she turned to flick the switch, when she noticed something on the wall, "Huh?" She got closer. It was a word; a word that had been scratched into the metal, "Huh?" The girl squinted and struggled to read the word, "Seh...Sc-Scoo--t. Scoot?" She mispronounced it

The beast grunted in surprise, he hadn't heard that in a long time.

"Is this your name?" She asked innocently, "Scoot?" She turned the flashlight off. Her now ruined night vision could now only see his glowing eyes, which were filled with emotion and looked to be about to cry.

She paused, but then smiled and dove for him. She embraced him in a bear hug, "That's your name, isn't it, Scoot?" She was brimming with ecstasy, "Yay! I can call you something! You'll be my Scootey!"

He was shocked by her sudden warmth, and by what she had decided to call him. It brought back memories, and his chest began to swell, about to cry. He whined in a mixture of ecstasy and sadness and returned the gesture.

"You're warm," She held him tight for a good fifteen seconds, and he held her just as tight. Eventually, she loosened her grip on him and looked into his eyes, which were leaking.

But her expression quickly turned to sudden realization, "Oh no!" She turned around, "Scott! Anna!" She broke away and felt along the wall for the vent opening, "They must be worried sick! I've gotta get back to them!" She found the vent opening and began to frantically crawl through it,

She was stopped, her ankle in a grip "No!" 

Mary turned around; he looked so... terrified and hurt, "Don't-leave, please..."

"Scoot, I've gotta go bah--!" She stopped and remembered something else.

How long did the letter say he was here, all alone? Almost four years? She's the first company he's had for...forever. She's only known him for twenty minutes, tops. Guilt crept into her system; she couldn't leave him just yet, that would be mean.

She looked into his eyes, they looked so sad and scared, "You're...all alone here, aren't you?" Scoot nodded

She paused, then sighed, "I guess, I can stay for a little longer," she crawled backwards into the room again, "for you, Scootey,"

She still really couldn't see, but his eyes smiled.

\-----------------

"No, you can't base some-thing as one big thing based on just one small portion," Anna was beginning to flare up again; Scott was being unreasonable

"Yes, I know that, but we've trekked through half of it's territory, and it hasn't shown it's ugly mug. And we don't feel sick yet, do we?"

"Maybe it's taking its time, waiting for the moment we stumble across something important before giving us what for,"

Scott rolled his eyes, "That's not very valid, Annie. Do you know anything about wild animals? Their whole territory is 'something important',"

She paused, "I still say it's possible it's biding it's time,"

Scott groaned loudly, "You're impossible,"

Anna blew a raspberry. He ignored her, and he began to cross the bridge. His nose once again in the schematics. Anna was quiet.

"Good, you've shut up,"

He thought she was still following him, exactly what she wanted him to think. She climbed down a ladder into the rubble filled pond below. Scott didn't notice, much to her delight.

She watched Scott walk across the covered bridge, and into the BLU building, "Heh heh heh, sucker!" She ran into the open sewer. Now she could explore where she wanted to, and no naggy older brother to tell her otherwise!

The sewer water and surrounding area seemed to be surprisingly stink-free. It crossed her mind that shouldn't sewers be stinky and have gross stuff raining on her head? 

_/No no, it's been almost four years, and this place has air flowing through it./_ She thought as a breeze blew her hair.

She wandered for five minutes, eyeing the various graffiti, cracks in the cement piping, rats, ladders, etc. Yes, various graffiti, rats, cracks, more broken pipes, ladders...pipes, ladders, cracks...pipes, ladders, rats, pipes, ladders....more pipes; pipes pipes pipes.

It got boring really fast. No dead bodies or floating technical stuff to liven it up. Sewer rats, sure, but they all squeaked and darted away from her,as if they were scared of her. She wasn't afraid of rats, and expected no less in this place.

Ten minutes, "Alright, I'm leaving," Anna threw her hands up and turned around, "Wait..." She was totally turned around. Where did she come from? Which pipe did she come from just now?

At that moment, a lot of things hit her: One, she was lost. Two, Mary wasn't there when she snuck off. Three, she was beginning to feel a sense of dread, like she wandered into unwelcome territory. It all boiled down to one thought,

"I have to get out of here," She shakily answered all her own questions.

She began in the other direction, trying to find something that would tell her she was going in the right direction. But everything was new, new graffiti, new cracks, new everything. She was just getting herself more lost, "Crap..." She looked up at the overhanging vents dripping water, not familiar, while still keeping her pace

_CLANG!!_

"Ahhh! Owwwwww...." She didn't look where she was going and hit her head on a low pipe.

She felt her forehead. Right over her scar a large bump was already forming, "Ugh...at least it's not bleeding," She held her hand on her bump, and continued on.

After walking for a minute she concluded her wandering was getting her nowhere. She paused for a minute, rubbing her bump; that blow to the head scrambled her thoughts.

"Alright...here I am, deep in the sewers in an ab-bandoned set of buildings deep in the desert. I have brain damage and a bump on my head..." She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Total crapola..."

She was so busy worrying about herself to notice the sound of light splashing, at first. It slowly crept into her thoughts. It didn't give her a sense of dread so much as confuse her. A growling sound came from behind her; once again it just confused her rather than scare her. The growling had certain tones to it, almost speech.

"Sew-gar?" She chirped in response, "Get away from your sugar? What sugar? All I see is water and pi--" Realization hit her. Tremors setting in, she slowly turned around.

A blur leapt at her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and took off.

She heard it splash in the water behind her, no doubt where she just was a second ago. She rounded a corner and heard it screech. She ran and ran, fueled by adrenalin. She had forgotten all about the pain in her head; her main objective was to get out of there as fast as she could. She ran in and out of pipes, not caring if she knew where they went or not. She was being chased, and she had to run, that's all she knew.

She was running for a good solid two minutes, but the adrenaline didn't cover the fact she was no athlete. She had to slow down and catch her breath. She leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. There was silence otherwise.

"I think... I lost it..." She panted out, letting the fear and adrenaline burn off. No small relief to her current situation, the feeling sweeping her system

But it did not last. There was a small splash and a growl. All feeling of relief and safety were blown away, her tensing up hard. Holding her breath in fear, she turned around to the source.

She took off again, the thing close behind. She snuck another glance at the creature; it looked somewhat human. She let that register and turned back around.

**_CLANG!!!!_ **

Another low pipe hit her square on her forehead, and her running at full speed too. She stumbled backwards, paused, then fell, face-first, into the water, out cold.

......

Her thoughts swam, the light slowly came into her consciousness. Her eyes fluttered before snapping awake.

"Gah!" She jerked herself upright, "Huh?!" She was in a small room, adorned with a pipe ceiling, pictures tacked in the wedges between the brick, a rotting desk in the corner, a bunch of technology, and she was laying on something soft. Looking down revealed a pile of blankets and pillows.

She didn't know where she was, everything was new to her. She didn't know why she was wet, or why her head hurt so much-- "AUGH!!" The full force of the pain hit her, and she held her forehead, and found bandages crudely wrapped around it

She was sure confused. Where was she--? _/Oh yeah, I'm in the sewer,/_ she answered her own question, _/At least, I think so?/_ She noted that her current location didn’t seem anything like the sewer she was in before, _/I was running from something and I hit my head-- Hey, wait.../_

It didn't all connect in her head. She is, was, hopelessly lost in a sewer, something that probably wanted to eat her was chasing her, she gets knocked out cold, and she wakes up here, head bandaged and laying on top of someone's dirty laundry. It just didn't add up; by all logic, she should be dead.

Something shuffled in the corner of her eye. Jumping slightly, her vision twitched to the source. It was the hunched over back of another person, someone in a long, white, ravaged coat. Well, it must have been white at one point, but now it was faded to a dingy grey-green. They were stooped over something. 

"Huh? Hey, did you save me?" She called out to them

They grunted in surprise, and turned around to face her. Fear flooded her being, her face turning ashen with it. She lost control of her limbs, and she started backing away quickly. She more than recognized that face; in fact, she wanted to get away from it.

It was the same thing that chased her out in the sewers.

Their features did indeed look roughly human, but now warped grotesquely. Their ears had extended and were limp at the ends. The eyes were heavily bagged and his pupils were a line. The nose had flattened, nostrils opening more to the sides. Their teeth were long spikes and seemed like they couldn't close their mouth all the way without hurting themselves. They were so skinny you could see the spine poking out from the coat. Their skin was green and scaly, peeling something terrible. Their black and grey hair was long and matted, a long shock of it running down his face. Their hands were rough, scarred, and had long brown claws. One hand was bandaged. Their feet were wide and toes splayed out, adorned with much more scars than the hands.

This wasn't a human, this was an animal. An animal that seemed somewhat... concerned? This whole mess was sending out so many signals.

She willed herself to calm down enough to speak, "Aren't you...Didn't you...want to eat me?" Their ears dropped a bit, and a guilty look and posture crept up. "You did, didn't you?" They sunk down even lower, "What made you change your mind?"

They raised a claw up to their forehead, but Anna didn't understand what they were getting at. It took a moment, but she realized they were referring to her injuries, "But that was the perfect time to snatch me up and have me for dinner. What really stopped you?" Again they pointed to their forehead. "You already mentioned that. It doesn't make se--"

Sudden clarity hit her. The technology in here was largely medical instruments, and there was an insignia of a cross on the coat shoulder. She put two and two together, "You're a doctor, aren't you?" She was feeling noticeably less scared now, "Or, at least, were?" They nodded slowly, “Are you a man or a woman?” She blurted out before slapping her hand over her mouth.

They just grunted once before getting up into a hunched position, holding a two-part device that resembled a gun connected to a backpack of machinery. It seemed to be rather heavy, judging by the way they walked while holding it. They were walking toward her with the barrel facing right at her.

This alarmed the girl, "H-Hey!" She began to back away even further, "Don't shoot me--AUGH!!" The pain in her head flared.

They set it down, barrel still facing her, and went to fiddle with the backpack part of it. Once again more confused than scared, she scooted closer, "What is that thing?"

They said nothing, but continued to fiddle with the device until it sputtered to life. It coughed a few times, then was putting like an old car. They came out from behind it and grabbed a lever-looking thing on the gun part.

Anna cocked her head to one side, eyebrows knitting together. She wasn't sure what this was, but it didn't seem to be a weapon. It sounded like an old clunker car, and from what she recalled, guns don't have levers. But then again, her brain had been knocked around considerably.

They pulled the lever down with a squeak. Anna flinched slightly, but her eyes widened in fascination. With a cough and a sputter, a blue colored stream of light came out and came flying towards her. She felt it make contact with her being, right over the part of her forehead that hurt, and instantly the pain started to lessen. She felt the skin mend together, apparently it had split open. In no time at all, the pain and the bump was gone, her vision no longer swimming.

She sat there, gawking. At the contraption, the creature, the now non-existent pain in her head, at everything. She was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around all of this. What was that stream of light, and why did it heal her? Why did it seem heavier than light? Hard light? What? What was it made of? What kind of technology allowed it to do that? Despite the nauseating pain gone her mind began to swim with all the thoughts in her head.

The machine sputtered to a stop, catching her attention and allowing the pain to lessen. She saw them stand up, or, as she saw, get up as much as they could. Turns out the way they were hunched over while carrying the machine was as far as they could straighten. It made her think of a certain character from one of her brother’s books, the one with the deformed man held in hiding by a priest in a big church. His name was Quasti-something, right? 

Her mind had wandered off so much she didn’t notice the creature stop and crouch down right in front of her until she met the saturated yellow eyes right at her own eye level. The sight of the bright orbs gave her a start and made her back up slightly. There was a pause, quiet but rough wheezing filling the silence. The creature cocked their head to one side, before slowly raising a paw up and bringing it towards their guest’s face; their rough, scar-ridden, horribly clawed paw. At the sight of this, Anna gasped and began trying to crawl backwards a little more; she hit the wall before going very far.

They recoiled their hand with a startled grunt, “No... hurt,” Anna’s eyes widened, they can speak, “Help,” they took a small step forward to compensate for Anna’s step back, and brought their paw back towards her. Anna of course flinched, but didn’t move away. The rough paw landed on her forehead, and gently pulled the crude bandage off. Her eyes didn't stop being wide or her mouth close as the white-with-a-stain-of-red strip of cloth came off and they threw it aside.

"What… just happened?" She gasped out

The creature faced her, teeth clacking together, "Med-di-gun,"

"Medei-gun?" She mispronounced it, "Medigun?" She said it right, "So that's a magical wellness gun ri--No no no, that’s not important; you can TALK?! I've only heard you grunt and growl!"

They nodded slowly, then picked up the Medigun, carried it to it's respective corner, and set it down. After completing that task, they crawled up to her and sat down right in front of her, their eyes holding a childlike curiosity. They studied her for a minute, eyes making sure not to forget a single detail about her. This creeped her out quite a bit, causing her to shrink back and look at him waywardly.

"What are you doing?" Before thinking of the consequences, she put her hand in front of her to push them away, "Stop it--Aah!!"

When she extended her hand, the curious beast instantly grabbed it, startling her quite a bit. They held it gently, turning it over, holding it up and down, examining each finger. She could feel the tough scaly calluses that were their hands/paws and just how sharp those claws were. They didn't hurt her, of course, but this thing was weirding and creeping her out a lot.

"Uh..." She thought about what words to say, "It's called a hand. You have a pair yourself...I think..."

The creature tore their gaze away from her hand to her face. They grunted once and pointed at something near her. Not sure what they wanted, she didn't do anything other than scrunch her eyebrows together. They grunted again, more agitated, and pointed directly at her other hand. Slowly and gingerly, she extended her other hand to them.

They let the other hand go and practically dove for the other, caressing it the same way they did the other one, just more brief. A quick look later, and they scurried to a certain corner, rummaging around in a pile of cloth. He was throwing the cloth everywhere, one landed on Anna's head, one on a hook, one on the Medigun, one managed to snag on a picture. All in all, just strewing everything about.

"Uhhh..." Having had enough confusion for one day, she was more irritated than anything else, "Hey uh... Doc,” referring to the creature with the impersonal they in her mind was driving her crazy, “what are you doing? You're making this place look like my roo--" a piece of cloth landed across her face. She peeled it off and set it down. How many of those little strips were there? "Seriously, man, cut it out. What are you even looking for?"

Well, they stopped, but there appeared to be no more little strips left anyway. Even though their hunched body was blocking her view from what they were doing, she could still hear the sounds of whatever they were doing. There was the _clk-pt, clk-pt_ of a lock or latch or something opening. They had apparently dug up a case of some sort.

After appearing to take something out of said case and fiddle with it, making some weird metallic thrumming sounds, they got up and turned towards her. They were holding what appeared to be a use-worn string instrument and a long stick. Anna couldn't remember the name of it. It was too small to be a guitar, that's all she knew.

They approached her, sat down in front of her, and outstretched the instrument and the stick to her, eyes hopeful. Their hands stayed outstretched for a moment, large begging eyes wearing holes in Anna's mind.

"Uh, you want me to...play it?" Anna asked slowly

They nodded dopily and pushed the instrument closer. Anna, a bit perplexed, took it and the stick, laid the stick down, and fumbled with the instrument’s strings. They growled in displeasure, startling Anna. She looked up, they looked annoyed.

"What? Am I doing it wrong?" She didn't like it when people did that,

They rolled their eyes and crawled behind her. They picked up the stick and put it in Anna's free hand. They put Anna's other hand on the instrument's long neck and placed the butt of it on Anna's shoulder, her chin resting on a black curved plate. They picked up her hand with the stick and placed it on the instrument's metal strings and moved her hand back and forth. Anna jumped as the instrument emanated musical notes. It was discordant, but it surprised her nonetheless.

"Hey, this..." The word came to mind at last, "it's a violin," They nodded in her side vision, “You have to be a dude, right?”

“Ja,”

She moved the stick--bow--back and forth across the various strings, hearing the different pitches of notes. It was fun, surprisingly fun. It shocked her, realizing how much she enjoyed it and how natural it felt.

He knelt in front of her, eyes gleaming happily, enjoying hearing her nonsensical notes. For such a terrifying mutant beast, it was cute. Anna couldn't help but smile a little.

After listening to her enjoy his violin for a short while, he stopped her. Confused on why, she obeyed. He picked up the hand that was on the neck and positioned them near the fancy ornament at the end of the neck, and put her fingers across the strings Intrigued, eyebrows furrowing, she played the strings. Eyes widening, the strings now played a different note than just the plain open string. Anna was utterly fascinated, and continued to experiment with finger placements. Even through sour notes and discordant melodies, Anna and her new friend enjoyed it.

Anna, after a time, stopped and put the instrument down, "Do you still know any good songs?" He seemed surprised at her question, "Well," she put her hand behind her head, almost embarrassed, "You seem to have once been human, and when you were human, you enjoyed playing the violin. I guess you were pretty good at it too," He looked off to the right and gave a shrug, "Well then, could you teach me?"

He snapped his sight back to her, face lighting up and smiling broadly. It wasn't the most pleasant of smiles, given all the sharp teeth, but it was a happy one. He nodded vigorously while gasping

"Groovy," She picked up the violin and bow and gave them to him, "Let’s hear what you can do!"

His smile broadened, it wasn't every day he got this chance. He took the violin happily, put it in position, and began playing. It seemed that, even though he was warped and his mind probably was too, the violin was the one thing he didn't forget. Or, perhaps, refused to forget.

He was playing a classical song that Anna had heard time and time again, but never knew the name of. It was really complicated, for sure, and he didn't miss a beat. His claws clacked with every note, but it didn't distract from the music. Anna sat there, listening to his concert, all fear banished.

He finished, his eyes sparkling, and looked at her happily as she applauded, "That's really good!" She stopped clapping, "But I doubt I can play something that com-pli-ca-ted so soon," he looked at her quizzically from her stumble, "I have brain damage. Do you know any simple songs I can start out with?"

Eyes lighting up again, he proceeded to play Mary had a Little Lamb. After finishing, he outstretched the instrument to Anna, who gratefully took it.

She tried to play Mary had a Little Lamb as he played it, but all she got was a discordant melody, "Aw, man," She stopped playing, "Hey Doc (can I call you that?)" He nodded, "how do you play this thing?"

Doc crawled behind her, and raised his hands to the violin neck. He placed his own fingers on the strings and used his free hand to command her bowing hand. He proceeded to play a slow Mary had a Little Lamb. Anna watched his finger placements closely, when he changed to different strings, and when the bow went up and down. After he stopped and let go, she tried herself, mimicking the movements as best as she could. She was slightly off-tune, but there was no denying the simple nursery rhyme.

Anna's eyes were wide with ecstasy, "I did it!" Her smile stretched from the moon and back, and so did his, "I played a song!"

"Play, it… a-gain," He rasped out, "Slow-er,"

She did. When she hit a sour note, he would stop her and correct her finger placement. With his help, Anna played the nursery rhyme note for note. Pride swelling in her chest, she played it again with Doc sitting a small ways off. In a matter of a few run throughs, she had the song down pat.

Grinning from ear to ear, she decided to speed it up. She played faster, but the song was lost in string squeals and misplaced fingers. Anna didn't even finish it, she stopped and flinched at her own handiwork, "I probably...shouldn't go that fast, huh?" She gave a chuckle in spite of herself

Doc's face had contorted into one of major league discomfort, his hands curled up in front of him. Upon hearing her question, he slacked a little and hastily nodded.

"Well then, what other songs can I learn?" She babbled out anxiously, eyes shining

Doc flinched a little from her sudden eagerness, but smirked and patted her head, "Patience..." Anna noticed his growling voice had an accent

"Awwww, I don't wanna be patient!!" She whined

Doc lidded his eyes and made to take the instrument out of her hands. Anna picked up on this and flinched back.

"No," she yelped out, her voice breaking

"Zen patience,"

Anna paused, looked at the violin, then slumped her shoulders, "Alright, I'll be patient," She placed the violin back onto her shoulder and awaited further instruction, all the while her eyes shining.

\-------------------------

"...then the Dorms lead right to a small kitchen area..." Scott noted some small living quarters on the BLU side of the schematics, "bathrooms on the left here, a small shower..." the girls were being quiet. Good, he liked the peace.

He felt the ground go from wood to dirt. He looked up, and saw the towering concrete structure that was the BLU base. He huffed once and buried his nose once again into the schematics, "Alright, I should be descending a small flight of stairs into this large main room he--"

_SPLASH_

His thoughts and vision was so occupied he didn't notice the fact that the inside of the base was practically an indoor lake. His boots were watertight, but his favorite pair of bell bottoms quickly began soaking up the cold water. He removed his leg quickly, jumping back a little, exclaiming from the cold.

"Hey," he waved behind him, "don't come in, it's all wet in here," his arm didn't hit anybody

He looked behind himself finally, and saw nothing but the desert and the RED base. His sisters were gone. He slapped his face,

"Ugh, why did I think they were being quiet? They wandered off!! Where, ugh, anywhere!! This place has enough hiding spots,"

He took a step forward, and something wet and slimy wrapped itself around him. He didn’t panic at first, until said thing pulled him hard enough to send him flying to the floor.

"AAAAAAAA--PPLLLLMM-MM!!!" Scott tried to cry out, but another thing wet and slimy covered his mouth.

Amongst his own desperate attempts to scream, and that the slimy, writhing... things around him were squeezing him to the point it hurt, he could hear wild splashing. Apparently whatever was dragging him was large, very large. Scott looked down. Tentacles, dark tentacles. No, there were no suckers, and they were varying sizes and shapes. What was it? That didn’t matter; whatever it was, it was dragging him into the cold, murky waters.

The boy squirmed and squirmed, trying to scream, but to no avail. He clawed at the meaty tendril around his mouth, and he managed to get it to slip just enough to free some breathing space, "HELP _mmmmm!!!_ " His one desperate plea quickly was silenced by a tighter grip around his mouth.

He was up to his chest in the freezing water and counting, getting dragged down farther and farther into the lake. He squirmed even more, clawing at the water in desperation, but the tentacled thing had a solid grip on him. He still attempted to scream, despite the mass of flesh around his mouth. His muffled screams and frantic squirms only served to agitate the creature. Scott heard it hiss angrily. Another appendage covered his eyes, one with bone and joints. Not focusing long enough to realize that was unusual, he tried clawing at that. He felt the skin was thick and scaly, not easy to hurt. It didn't stop Scott from trying though, grabbing and pulling with all he was worth.

Blinded and mute, he felt the water envelope him entirely; he was being pulled deeper and deeper quickly. He tried to claw his way out ever harder, but he was a very weak swimmer, and the tentacled thing had him in a vice grip.

His state of panic made him still try to scream, his breath leaving quickly. His lungs began begging for air, the pain of it filling his chest. Scott could feel his heart beginning to slow. By the growing pressure on his body, he was getting deeper underwater. 

The tentacled thing was drowning him.

He tried harder than ever before to squirm his way out, but his effort didn't last long. His body was beginning to go numb, his energy was gone. Despite everything being dark already, he could feel his eyesight leave him.

Chest in terrible pain, his body falling numb, and the last of his energy sapped, Scott fell unconscious.

.................

"Ugh!--Aaugh!!" A harsh blow to his stomach woke him up, and sent the water in his lungs out onto the concrete floor.

He was on his back, but the blow and the upchuck made him roll over to his side. Head swimming and freezing cold, he tried to turn over to his stomach. After a few attempts, he managed to do so, and got his torso up off the ground. He threw up the contents of his stomach and got up onto his hands and knees.

He held his head up as much as he could, trying hard to focus his thoughts. His vision was unstable, but through his effort it cleared a bit. He was in a messy, busted up concrete room. Water-ruined Polaroid pictures were perched between the cracks in the wall and in a big pile in a corner. Hats of different kinds and shapes were in a heap a little ways away. Heaps of clothes and medals were strung along clotheslines. A pile of soggy garbage lay in another corner, sporting a touch of green. There was a large mirror leaning next to the garbage, webbings of cracks and chips galore on it. There was a flicker of movement in the reflection.

Before he could react to that, something slimy brushed his leg.

"AAAUGH!!" With newfound strength, he flipped around and got an eyeful of whoever was behind him. His face softened a bit, feeling a feeling of anticlimax.

It was a man, a man that wore a torn up, faded blue ski mask and a ripped, greyed out tank top, and he was standing in a portion of a room that looked to be flooded. And judging by how much of the man was under water, it seemed to be a bit of a drop off.

Something was off about this man.

There was a slight buzz in his head. Scott squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his senses to become less chaotic, clear his thoughts a little. He opened them again, and got quite a shock. This “man” wasn't entirely a man. His eyes were very large and completely black; no, not entirely. There was a sliver of light grey at the edges of his eyes. His nose was flat, almost completely nonexistent. There was no indication of ears at all; there was a rip on the side of the mask revealing only a hole where the ear should be. His skin was greyed out considerably, but there was a small hint that his skin was once tan, and it seemed slightly scaly. Fangs stuck upwards out his mouth like tusks. His hands were dark, dark grey, webbed, and topped with long, black claws.

The boy felt a twinge of fear go through him, but his confusion and curiosity overrode it. It wasn't this thing that tried to drown him, right? It couldn't be.

Something flickered in the water. Scott jumped from this, and caught what it was before it disappeared. It was one of those misshapen tentacles.

"Whoa!" Scott retreated backwards a bit, pointing a quivering finger towards the water, "Th-that thing's in the water!"

The man-creature’s eyes widened in surprise, before fading into a look of both hurt and annoyance. His mouth twitched, and the water began to bubble. A large grey tentacle swished, then another, then another. Scott braced himself for a large, misshapen octo-squid to rise out of the water, but as more of the things rose out from the water, he found out quickly that there was no place where the man-creature’s body ends and the tentacled monster’s began. He, it, was the beast that tried to drown him.

Scott cried out in fear and backpedaled himself against the wall. Everything about this situation was making his adrenaline flare, the chemical flooding his system. He was beginning to shake.

He was so scared he could hardly speak, other than let out terrified squeaks every now and then. Eventually, the courage to say, or cough out, something surfaced, "I-I-I'm sorry," his words quickly became frantic, "I'm sorry I s-stepped onto your territory!!" The man-beast began to lean in closer, and Scott trying to claw his way back farther, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!! Don't eat me, please please please!!" The beast drew ever closer, Scott tried sinking to the ground, "If you let me go, I'll leave and never come back! I'll leave you alone!" He turned his head to the side and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the worst

The thing was so close now that Scott could feel its rancid breath blowing on him, but nothing further happened. He dared a peek; it had stopped advancing, eyes widened slightly. It gave a snort, then drew away, turning around and sinking into the water. He relaxed a little as the beast got further and further, watching silently as the thing disappeared under the water, tentacles flashing and sending water everywhere. He held his breath; it didn't resurface.

Scott's eyes darted right, then left, and he tried to stand up, "Hnng--UGH!!" Scott doubled over in pain, his stomach throbbing and his vision beginning to swim.

_/Oh yeah, I got socked pretty hard in the gut,/_ Scott remembered, _/Ugh, I never want to almost drown again,/_ He looked up, and tried standing up again, pushing through the pain enough to stand partially up and lean against the wall. He saw a picture next to him, and decided to give it a look.

The picture was of a man in a blue pinstripe suit and ski mask with a man with a slouch hat, sunglasses, a collared vest, and a rather nasty underbite. They both had looks of surprise. The caption at the bottom read "Figuring out the camera 1967". He let out a pained chuckle; the situation captured was a bit funny. His gaze was lead to the next one: a large, hard chinned man with a helmet that covered his eyes was giving a young teen a nasty noogie. Caption read, "Noogie Noogie, Maggot! 1968". Scott smirked, these were great. 

There were various ones that would've made Scott belly laugh if not for the horrible pain in his chest. Such a one had captured the moment right before a bucket of water fell on a person in a gas mask and fire suit ("Oh, the irony 1967"). Others made him just smile; A man in a hard hat, goggles, overalls, and a glove over his left hand was playing a guitar and a man in a collared coat, glasses, and shiny gloves was playing a violin ("Duet 1969"). Some were really waterlogged, and thus too made it too hard to try and make out. Why they were still here and not thrown out was beyond Scott. Sentimental reasons, maybe?

The pain had lessened a little, and so he stood up a little straighter. He stumbled his way over to the closest clothesline and grabbed the first thing his hand touched; a leather vest with several pockets. It was rather large; must have been for a really big guy. He turned it over, and a picture fell out. Scott dropped the vest and bent down (painfully) to pick up the picture. It was a group picture of nine men, all seeming to vary in size, shape, color, and age. The caption read "Group Noogie in 3,2,1 1966" Scott gave a warm smile despite himself. Apparently before whatever happened here, there was a sort of... surrogate family bond of some type, no matter what they were here to do. He’d recognize these kind of things from a mile away.

He put the picture back into one of the many pockets and strained to hang the vest back up. He eventually succeeded by standing up straight and ignoring the pain. Not an entirely smart decision, as he got a major headrush from doing so and stumbled backwards onto the floor. He kicked a box in the process, scooting it sideways. Scott's thoughts and vision were cloudy, but he allowed the spots to clear from his thoughts and vision. His sore butt answered his clear mind.

"Ugh, ow," Scott shuffled uncomfortably, “yay more pain--” A light flashed across his eyes as he shuffled.

He paused; what was that? Scott looked down; a ray of sunshine was shining down on the floor--wait, sunshine? He looked up, and saw the "ceiling" was rather fine wire mesh, and there was a cracked window above it before hitting the real ceiling. _/Ok, that solves why no one is dying of asphyxiation in here,/_ Scott looked back down, something was shiny and on the floor and he knew it.

He followed the ray to the floor, and a carved metal cylinder under the box he just kicked caught his eye. He gingerly crawled to the object, and pulled the cylinder out. It was rather long, but the other end sported a trigger and a wooden handle. A gun; a slightly rusted, long barreled, carved revolver, it seemed to be. The carvings were amazing and well done, and Scott couldn't resist studying the intricate details. There was a woman with long hair holding a fan over her hips, along with some other swirling designs.

He held the gun rather close to his eyes, and then a thought came to his head that sent a shiver down his spine: is this thing loaded? He opened the cartridge chamber, there was one bullet inside, "Huh, I can play Russian Roulette with myself," the boy thought out loud, "I doubt that would end well with anybody, playing Russian Roulette with one's self..."

_SPLASH_

The sound made Scott jump and drop the gun. He struggled to catch it, but it clattered to the ground. He looked up, it was the tentacled man-beast, holding a small clump of dripping fur. Scott stared at it in disgust, is that what he thought it was?

The creature simply gave Scott a quick look, and proceeded to grip the animal by it’s head. Scott saw long ears flop out; it was a drowned jackrabbit.

_Rrrrrrr-IP_

The sound of the head being torn off was loud and nauseating, Scott cupping his mouth and gagging. The thing opened his mouth full of needle teeth and sunk them into the vulnerable chest of the jackrabbit, crunching and squishing as it tore and devoured its insides. It took watching it crush the skull open and start to suck out the insides for Scott to look away, eyes watering. The crunching, ripping, squelching sounds made Scott moan and retch. And yet, despite feeling sickened and his chest still hurting quite a bit, his stomach growled with hunger.

This surprised both Scott and the man-beast equally. He paused and he turned towards the sickened boy, blood and viscera dripping from his mouth. Two tentacles surfaced from the water and grabbed opposite ends of the rabbit and began pulling hard, the strain showing on its face. Bones cracked, muscle and skin tore, then split in half, ripped intestines and other innards hanging out of both. Scott almost lost more of his lunch watching it.

The man-beast started bringing half of the carcass towards Scott. The boy exclaimed in disgust and tried to back away farther, but he was already against the cold concrete wall. It let go of the half-carcass and it fell to the ground in front of Scott with a sickening SPLAT.

That was the last straw. Scott moaned and finally threw up the rest of the contents of his stomach.

"I am... not hungry, thank you..." He groaned and pushed the carcass away with his foot,

The man-beast huffed angrily and a tentacle picked up the half and brought it back towards itself. It hastily finished the half it was already eating and made to eat the other half.

Scott closed his eyes, he couldn't bear to watch, but the sounds of bones breaking and muscle ripping and skin tearing alone was far worse; left too much to the imagination. He opened his eyes and got an eyeful of the half-eaten rabbit once again. He retched, but there was nothing to throw up. His stomach growled again.

The man-beast stopped eating again and gave Scott a stern look. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"What?!" Scott snapped, "I'm a human boy! I don't eat meat raw! I'll get sick!” Scott gagged, “Well, in my case, more sick,"

The thing listened with its expression softening, then turning to a look of deep thought. Scott's eyebrows knit together in confusion. Now what was he thinking?

A tentacle reached out to the pile of garbage, and started feeling around inside it. It pulled out a can, and brought it to the boy. He took the can and looked at the label, just some pineapple chunks. He turned the can over and looked at the expiration date, 3/14/1977. It was still good. He pushed the lids just in case; they didn't pop.

"I guess this is ok," Scott looked up at the beast, "Do you have a can opener? I can't open cans with my bare han--Gah!!"

A tentacle snatched the can out of Scott's hands, startling him. The thing took the can in its hand, and the claws from the other hand dug into the metal, tearing the top off and some juice squirted out. The tentacle brought the can back to a wide-eyed Scott. He took it, looked inside, and without thinking much, inhaled the fruit slices. The slices filled him considerably, and alleviated the sickness a bit. He didn't even seem to mind the beast finishing the rabbit.

Scott didn't feel exactly full, per se, wanting to eat something else, but he didn't want to try the man-beast's patience. His stomach gurgled a little. Not in hunger, exactly, but still growled nonetheless. The beast was on the last bone of meat, but stopped. He gave Scott a look of confusion.

"Hey, I can't control it," Scott shrugged, "I'm not really all the hungr--" Scott stopped as the beast sent a tentacle to the pile, pulled out another can, ripped off the top, and gave it to Scott. He looked at the contents, ranch style beans. He quickly checked the expiration date and chugged the beans, "Thanks," He wiped the corners of his mouth with his jacket sleeve.

Scott realized something, he wasn't very scared of this tentacled man-beast anymore. In fact, he was more comfortable in this creature’s presence than he has been with every human he has been in contact with for the past year and a half. He had read plenty of books where the "beast" (or misfit) was one character he ended up liking, and relating to, the most. Perhaps that attitude applies here. After all, he did just feed him some food. But one thing did weigh on his mind.

"Hey," Scott got the creature's attention, "Why did you try to drown me? And if not drown, why did you grab me?"

The creature hung his head a little in shame, then did something that shocked Scott, "I... was... hun-gry," It replied slowly

Scott recovered from the initial shock of the thing talking, and then replied back, a little more harshly than he intended, "You wanted to eat me? And so decided to drown me, huh?" The man-beast shrunk and looked to the left, "Well, why wasn't I your next meal instead of that rabbit? You saw what I was before you grabbed me, right?" The beast nodded, "Well then, I figure you were the one who clocked me right in the gut to wake me up, right?" He nodded again, "Then you changed your mind, and decided to spare me. How did you go from angry, hungry predator to one that sympathized with--?" Scott cut himself off, a thought came to him.

There was that one character that had a split personality. She would be vicious one moment, acting only on instinct, then to her normal sad, tortured self the next, hating that this monster was a part of her. His new friend was obviously once human, and now he's something else entirely. Maybe his mind is split, one the monstrous instinct and the other what he used to be. One moment one part is dominant and suddenly the other would pop out. And so Scott asked, "You...were acting on impulse weren't you? Instinct?" He nodded, "And when you came to your senses, you decided against having me for dinner?" He nodded again

Scott was silent for a moment, not sure of what to say next, "What's your name?" It took Scott a moment to realize that he had indeed said that aloud

The man-beast looked a little surprised at his question, but it faded to a look of doubt and thought. Scott quickly caught himself, "Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Scott mumbled out quickly, but he had accidentally talked over his friend, who already said it, "I'm sorry, say that again,"

"Sssspy," He hissed out a second time

"Sssspy?" Scott echoed, "Spy?" His friend nodded, "Spy. Huh, that's not your real name, is it?" Spy shook his head, "Then what is it?" Spy looked shameful, and slowly shook his head. Scott guessed what he meant, "You don't remember your name, do you?" Spy shook his head, "Was Spy your codename, or something?" He nodded, "It's all you remember, huh?" He shook his head again, "Huh. You remember other things, just not your name?" A nod, “What do you remember?”

His face scrunched up in effort, one webbed hand clutching the mask, "Ffffrance… Beg-ginning" He hissed slowly and nostalgically, "Tongue… White-room... " His face turned downward, "Friends..."

Scott turned to the first picture he saw, the one with the two men looking surprised. He reached over and took it off the hook, "This is you, isn't it?" He turned the photo to Spy and pointed. Spy leaned in and studied the picture, then nodded and drew back again.

Scott turned the picture towards himself then back to Spy, "Then who's this other guy?"

"Sni-per,"

"Sniper? Is that his real name?" Spy shook his head, "Did you ever learn his real name?" Another head shake, "So everyone you knew here went by codename?" Spy nodded again, "Huh... Do you remember everybody?"

"Most… May-be,"

Scott was silent, he was so utterly fascinated, and he couldn’t pin down exactly one reason. There was so much that happened here, and to Spy. He wanted to know everything, nasty stuff and all.

He still wanted to see one thing, "Um..." Scott put his hand behind his head in embarrassment, "C-can I see a... one of your...?" He asked slowly and gestured vaguely

Spy's eyebrows rose a little for a moment, but fell again as he brought a large, grey, malformed tendril out of the water and laid it on the concrete floor in front of Scott. Scott crawled over to it, and began to examine it. It was rather heavy, and slightly rough to the touch. It hardly looked like anything that happened in nature; at least as far as he knew. A small examination revealed ridges and breaks in the composition, even some holes. It seemed more like ripped flesh than any tentacle or fin or anything that was the result of centuries of evolution.

How did he mutate like this? Was there a tank of fish, with a squid of some sort? Was the last thing he ate as a human octopus sushi? Why were these... ripped meat tentacles like this in the first place? Is he scarred? Did he fight something? Why didn’t these holes close up?

It was strange, everything didn't make much sense. Something happened here that made everyone to "jump ship", and yet they left behind a monster. But Spy couldn't be the monster that terrorized whoever was here. This flooded building was obviously used before everyone fled, right? And besides, it's flooded, they would've done something about that before. But they didn't, so maybe this building was the reason for all the hullabaloo? And how long has it been since everyone fled the scene? About three-point-five years, if his math was right.

His mind was going off on random, sad, and guilty tangents, all while he was holding and the tentacle. Eventually, he stopped and put it down, and it slid back into the water.

"Spy," his voice had a guilty drone to it, "My name is Scott, and I'll be your company for now,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And an extra long one for y'all! I can't think of any other way to split up this part without it seeming really skippy n' stuff. But does that matter? Monsters! Look at 'em!


	5. Wake Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Say your goodbyes, for now

Harry pushed the curtain back a bit, looking out at the desert at the direction the golf cart went out to.

"Honey," Margaret put a hand on his shoulder, "It's ok. He took the girls, didn't he? He's a big, responsible boy, yeah?"

"I know that, it’s just..." He didn't break his gaze out into the afternoon, "we just moved here a week ago and..." He paused, "I don't trust this landscape yet. They're going from big city kids to back country kids. They might get curious, especially Anna. I'm worried they'll get in a jumble and get hurt,"

She sighed, "I know, I know. But I'd put my faith in Scott. He knows how to keep them out of trouble. And besides, he's nearly eighteen, a little responsibility isn't gonna hurt him,"

"I know," Harry looked to his wife, "but I can't shake this feeling of dread for them,"

"That's just your fatherly instinct," Margaret began rubbing his shoulders,

“I guess so..." He quietly agreed, "If it makes you feel any better, if they aren't back in 24 hours, I'm gonna look for them,"

"Uh-huh,” Margaret’s tone was playful, “I’m the one who’s been standing by the same window for hours looking for a golf cart that’s probably not going to be spotted without binoculars, and even then!”

“Oh, what,” Harry was smiling and playing right along, “like you aren’t a smidgen worried for the three fruits of your loins?” He put a flirty finger under his wife’s chin

Wily grin on her face, she pushed the finger away “Not like you are, my beautiful disaster of a husband, you,”

They were dangerously close to making out, but the playfulness eventually ceased, the serious tone settling back in.

“Of course I’m a little nervous. Despite my faith in our boy, there’s always that chance things will go wrong. But I’m just trying to be the optimist here,”

“Well, if they really don’t come back within 24 hours I’ll go out and look for ‘em. Shouldn’t be too hard, Scott did say only a mile or so out, didn’t he?”

The woman smiled and ruffled her husband’s hair, "You're the best, honey,"

Harry did the same in return, only them knowing the meaning behind the gesture, "Thanks, honey bunch,"

Margaret broke away and went back to doing what she was doing before. Harry stood there at the window, watching the sun sink lower in the sky. He had his own doubts. He knew his boy, he would prefer to just sit down somewhere quiet and read a book; he wasn't the kind to pry. But yet, Scott had a rebellious tendency, and he did get really curious from time to time. But why would he bring the girls if he...?

He made up his mind, he wouldn't check on them at 4:34 pm tomorrow. If they weren't home by noon, he's going out to find them, and only the guilty will be scared.

\-----------------

Mary's eyes fluttered open, sleep heavy on her eyes. She didn't remember falling asleep. She was tangled up in the pile of blankets, and she was half blinded by something on her head. She lazily moved her arm and took it off. It was one of those slouchy French hats that pooled all over the brim.

_/Oh yeah,/_ she remembered, _/All those hats I tried on,/_ She remembered one of the many shenanigans that took place not long ago.

She let out a loud yawn that echoed off the walls and lazily sat up. She straightened her askew dress, and leaned back a little. She hit something, something warm and breathing peacefully, letting out a snort every now and then. He didn't stir when Mary leaned against him.

She let out a little chuckle, then pushed his shoulder, "Hey, Scootey-loo, wakey wakey,"

He snorted loudly, twitched, and began to stir. His glowing eyes blinked a few times, casting a flickering glow on the walls. He let out a huge yawn, one loud enough to rival Mary’s. He shook his head, reached for his beaten cap, put it on with a _shff_ , and gave her a tired look. She smiled a mile and threw herself into a big hug. Being as thin and as tired as he was, he was knocked over. Getting up quickly, he returned the gesture.

"Good nap?" Mary grinned, Scoot grunted tiredly in response.

She scanned the dark area, they had left it a terrible mess. Hats were strewn everywhere, the soda had seeped into a blanket and it now stunk, the little piles that were tucked away in the corners now had little organization, the baseball bat that was leaning in a corner was now nowhere in sight. All in all, there was no metal floor showing, just a carpet mess.

Mary let out another big yawn, "This isn't good," she smacked her lips, "Such a horrible mess, how will you find anything? We should get this place cleaned up," she stood up and cracked her back, "Will you help me?" Scoot groaned cartoonishly, but got up anyway. And by "got up", I mean he got on all fours ready to crawl, "C'mon, the sooner we start, the sooner we finish,"

And so they spent the next forty five minutes organizing everything back to the way it was. Mary had somewhat of an idea, since she helped create the mess, but Scoot had four years to know his piles, and all their contents. The two worked together in unison, Mary asking and Scoot answering, of course cracking jokes every now and again. They finished up quickly, and were now wide awake.

Mary cracked her fingers, "What time is it?"

Scoot looked off at a vent opening, "Late mor-ning,"

"How can you teh--?" the color drained out of Mary’s face; that was bad, "LATE MORNING?! Oh no!" She made a dash to one of the vents, "I've been here too long! My siblings! They must be worried sick!"

"Mary!" Scoot cried out and grabbed her ankle,

"Scoot, I'm sorry," she turned to face him, tears stinging her eyes, "but I have to go back! I have family, and they probably are scared for me! I can't stay here forever," the girl looked so solemn, "I'm sorry, but I can't. I need to get back to Mommy, and Daddy, and Scottie and Annie. They’ll miss me," she hung her head, "I'm sorry, Scootey,"

Scoot’s eyes were full of desperation, but it faded to a mix of guilt and sadness. He let go of Mary's ankle and hung his shoulders, listening to his friend's crying and repeated apologies.

"Mare-eee…." She looked up at him, "I'll… take you-back," He didn't seem very happy to say it, but was doing it because it was the right thing to do.

He pushed past Mary, ushering her to follow him, and the two of them continued on through the duct. They weaved up, they weaved down, they weaved left, they weaved right. The two of them traveled through the duct quickly but not so quietly due to Mary's shoes. Soon, though, Mary could see light reflecting off the walls of the duct. Scoot had slowed to a crawl, and his body had slouched even through his normal hunch. Mary could see the opening of the vent, the morning light blinding her. A moment to adjust, and there it was, the familiar patch of grass and flowers. Scoot had pushed himself against the walls of the duct, allowing a little opening for Mary to slip through. Mary scrambled past her friend and out into the sunlight. Despite everything, she never felt so happy to be kneeling in the morning sun.

_Tak tak tak..._

Scoot had begun to slink back into the duct, she could hear it. She couldn't just leave it at that, not after all that; she just couldn't. She whirled around back towards the vent, "Wait! Scoot I..." she cut off, tears brimming in her eyes once more.

The tapping sound stopped, then scraped the metal and came closer. Mary could see his silhouette and glowing eyes.

"Scootey I..." She still couldn't get her message out, the tears stopping her. She began to tremble.

His eyes widened in concern, and bolted towards the girl, hissing slightly at the light, and held himself halfway out the duct. She dove for him and held him in a great big hug, her tears running down his dirty red tee.

"Thank you, Scoot. I can't leave without thanking you," the girl felt a deep desire to stay with him, in the darkness of the vent. She would look past her slight nictophobia just to keep him company, but she had other priorities, other things in her life that were of equal, if not more, weight. Feeling a tug at her heart, she hugged him tighter, "I-I'll be back. I'll come back, I promise!" She said this more to comfort herself than him. She was feeling this intense dread that she was leaving him all alone, and saying that she'll come back helped alleviate the hurt.

Scoot finally returned the gesture, his body twitching like he was crying also. He was sniffling loudly.

They held each other for a good ten seconds before either let their hugs loosen. She let go of him, stood up, and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I'll be back..." She half whispered, then turned around and sped out of the RED base.

\---------------

Anna was awake before her eyes were, because either her eyes were really heavy with sleep or something had glued them shut. She waved her arm lazily in front of her, hitting various things until it made contact with her face. Nothing was holding her eyes shut other than the thick, gooey mucus that had accumulated on her eyes during her nap. She mumbled as she tried to break the gross barrier, which she accomplished eventually. Harsh light flooded her eyes instantly, and she recoiled and moaned. She remembered exactly where she was; she was in a separate room somewhere in the bowels of the sewer, with a friendly beast that used to be a man teaching her violin.

Oh, the violin! She fell asleep with it in her hands! Where did it go to now? She raised her head up a little and looked around; it wasn't anywhere she could see. She scrambled to her feet, but a little too quickly. A massive headrush slapped her in the face, making her slip on a blanket, and fell onto her butt with a thud. She shook her head to try and clear it, and eventually it did.

She stood up, slowly this time, and looked around. The room was the same since she fell asleep, only the beast she dubbed Doc was gone. She looked around the immediate area around her and found only twisted up blankets and pillows.

"Wait, Doc probably put it away," Anna said suddenly without her own consent. A little surprised at her own little outburst, she began to walk around the room, looking for the case.

She knew it was underneath a ton of strips of cloth, she saw Doc collecting all the scraps together while she was attempting Oh, Suzanna a few hours back. She found the pile and thrust her hand underneath it. Her hand hit a hard, leather case. She pushed the scraps off and opened the case. Her hunch was right, Doc had put the violin and the bow away while she was sleeping. She lumped the cloths back to where they were.

Nothing in the room really caught her attention. She had seen the pictures and what the instruments were and all that jazz. She's seen it all not long ago. Anna leaned against the adjacent, scratching her head. Boooo-rinnnng!

Well, only one real thing to do now, "Hey Doc!" Anna called out, not knowing how far away he was, "Ya there?" No reply. She threw up her hands, "Didn't think he'd hear me either,"

She went and sat back on the blankets, fiddling with a smallish pillow. Not like there was anything else around that was remotely interesting

There was splash, which made her jump. A hunched over shadow appeared on the wall and moved towards the room. The beast poked his head in.

"I'm awake, Doc," She stated the obvious

He gave her a brisk nod and continued in. Anna got a little shock, her eyes widening; he was holding a carved up coyote, a DEAD carved up coyote. He was holding it by the tail, and so blood flooded out of it like a river behind him.

Anna was totally appalled and suppressed a gag, "Why do you HAVE that?!"

"Food,"

That only made it worse, "Don't tell me you're gonna EAT it, are you?!" The mere idea repulsed Anna almost to upchucking.

"Zen look a-vay," He said sternly

Anna did so, for about two seconds. The sound of tearing and snapping was horrible to listen to. She turned back around, got a three second eyeful, then barfed next to the blanket bed.

Doc had tore open the coyote's back and had sunk his pike teeth into the ribcage of the canine, blood dripping off his mouth, claws, and clothes. The three seconds Anna caught was a rib being snapped off as well as the meat on it. The sound alone was appalling, the sight alone was appalling, and the sight and sound together was just plain awful. Anna had thrown up the little in her stomach and then just was retching. She was rather hungry when she woke up, but Doc put the emphasis on WAS. 

"Eugh..." She moaned out, the image of Doc's canine prey replayed in her head, and the continuing sound of him eating it didn't help at all; too much was left to the imagination

She heard Doc grunt, all annoyed, "Excuse me for... being grossed out!" She gasped out back to him, "I have a--" she gagged, the smell was beginning to permeate the air, "weak stomach," she used her shirt sleeve to plug her nose

Doc grunted again very deadpan and continued his meal. Anna reached out, grabbed a pillow, and stuffed it over her head in hopes to block out the whole situation. Yes, she was fully aware that Doc was practically a wild animal, and yes, he needed to eat. But it still disgusted the bejeebers out of her.

Like a wrecking ball, the realization hit her. Her head rocketed off the pillow, eyes wide. Doc stopped eating.

"Oh bad..." Her voice was quivering, "Doc, what time is it?" She was beginning to shake visibly

"Nine or so," He answered slowly, perplexed by what she was getting at.

"Mor-ning or night?"

"Mor-ning," Doc was still confused by her panic

Anna's face flushed, she began to sweat, "Nine in the morning? As in to-morrow morning?"

"Yes,"

"OHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" She cried out, "Scott! Mary! Oh no, this is bad. They must be worried sick! Mom and Dad! Oh bad, they must know! They must be so worried I'm gone!" She rocketed past Doc and his meal out into the open sewer.

"Anna!" He called out. He dropped the carcass and took off in chase

"Scott! Scottie, I'm here! I'm in the sewer!" She twisted and turned into pipes she didn't recognize. All she was doing was getting herself more lost, “Scott! Mary!”

She wasn't very fast, and didn’t know her way around in this maze. Doc quickly caught up to her. He grabbed her by the arm, stopping her dead in her tracks. She turned to face him.

"Doc, if I had re-re-...remem-bered that I didn't come alone, I wouldn't have stayed as long," tears began to form in her eyes, "I wandered into the sewers because I didn't want my brother to tell me what I could and couldn’t do, where I could and couldn't go. I com-plet-ely forgot until now." She looked down, "I have to go, my family..." She wiped the tears with her free sleeve.

Doc’s eyes were wide in shock. He didn't know that. Of course the girl had a family, a family that loved and cared for her, it made perfect sense. He didn’t have that, yes; he was incredibly lonely, yes; but he couldn't keep her cooped up here just to keep him company. He knew better. He didn't want her to leave, but he was going to show her out just the same.

He let go of her arm, "Ah-na," his growling voice downtrodden and lowly, "follow me," And she did. She followed him through the sewers, not questioning where they were going. After all, it was his territory, of course he knew the way better than she did.

It occurred to Anna suddenly that he'd been down here a while, all alone. She was the first human interaction he had in a long while. How long that while was exactly, she didn't know. It would explain why he was so overjoyed to teach her the violin, and for as long as they did; he had done hardly anything different day by day other than exist and wait for food for years, all by his lonesome. It most likely made his sanity/humanity take a nosedive.

And here he was, letting her go.

Guilt rose up in her; this poor creature is letting her go when he desperately needed someone to keep him company. She hung her head a little in shame; if someone like him was willing to put himself aside like this, he didn't deserve to suffer.

Bright sunlight slowly came into view. Anna looked up, she was at the entrance, the covered bridge above them. Delight rose up in her and ran forward into the sun, so happy to finally be free of that maze. Her delight didn't last long, though, as it quickly fell into guilt. She turned around and looked off into the sewers; Doc was almost out of sight, his countenance dripping with gloom.

"D-Doc!" She called out to him. He stopped and turned around, "I-I'll be back! I'll come back!" This helped alleviate her guilt, "So... so don't forget about me!" She held her tear-filled gaze for a moment, then ran to the ladder and climbed up out of Doc's sight.

\----------------------

A ray of sunlight woke Scott. Well, started waking him up. He had rolled to get away from it, and accomplished waking himself by rolling of whatever he was laying on onto the cold, concrete floor. That worked well enough. He woke with a snort and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He let out a nice large yawn and sat up on his knees. It took a moment for him to remember where he was, so his first impressions of the room he had spent hours in before were strange to him.

_/Oh yeah,/_ He thought to himself when he remembered. _/Is Spy in here?/_ He looked up and scanned the area, no obvious signs of an octopus man in here.

He yawned and stretched, and rubbing the last of the crusty sleep out of his eyes, he attempted to stand up. Headrush slapped him in the face, and he stumbled over to the adjacent wall to steady himself, stumbling over some junk and making some noise in the process. After some of his thoughts cleared, he remembered what he slept on. Spy had made a makeshift bed out of the clothes on the clothesline. They were piled like dirty laundry and smelled like such. Scott didn't mind too much, for something as small as smell doesn't deter him from getting a good nap. He regained his balance and made to put the clothes back.

A loud growl-moan filled the room suddenly, startling Scott enough to drop the teal polo he was holding. He darted his head this way and that, finally landing on the lump in the water he completely disregarded earlier. It was moving.

It produced a pair of arms and webbed hands from out of the water and rubbed it's head. Grey tentacles flashed from the water from time to time. The lump was obviously Scott's new friend.

"So you decided to nap along with me huh?" Scott greeted the waking Spy, "An hour or two doesn't hurt, I know, but at the same time? C'mon, that's just odd,"

Spy turned towards him and let out another loud growl-moan, his jaw unhinging a bit and long tongue flickering. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm, causing a rather unsettling scratching noise.

"Wait, that unearthly noise was a YAWN?" Scott hung up a teal turtleneck, "That's weird, dude,"

Spy shot him a deadpan look, then grunted as he swam over to assist with the clean up.

"Thanks bud," Scott politely thanked Spy for the extra hands (tentacles). He looked up at the cracked and broken window, "Man, I've never felt so well-rested for an hour or so of sleep. The sun is still shining nice and bright for evening. If a nasty scare and ice-water plunge is what it takes to feel rested, I should do it more often,"

"Evening?" Spy growled out quizzically

This sent a rather nasty jolt through the boy’s spine, "It IS evening, right?"

"No, mor-ning," Spy hissed out matter-of-factly, "Sun… went-down. You were-asleep, very long," Scott went stiffer than a board, dropping the vest in his hands, "In fact," Spy went on, "Late mor-ning. About..." he pondered a moment, "Nine?"

Scott was still for a second, an expression of pure terror on his face. His hands began shaking, then his arms, then his knees. Soon his entire frame was shaking like a leaf. Spy's accented voice hardly registered in his mind.

"Oh no..." Scott squeaked out, "Very bad, very bad..." He looked about to collapse.

Spy's eyebrows knit together in confusion and concern, "What iz-bad?"

Scott suddenly took off towards the water in now-you-see-him-now-you-don't fashion, wading in the ice water ready to dive under blindly. Spy cried out and grabbed him before he dove completely out of sight.

"Scott, what-iz-wrong?!" Spy demanded

Scott's head was wet, but tears were still evident, "Spy, I'm a terrible big brother! I didn't come here alone; I have siblings out there, YOUNGER siblings! Two sisters! One has brain damage and the other is just si-seven!" he caught himself, remembering Mary's very recent birthday, "I promised I would look after them, that they wouldn't become coyote food!" Tears were definitely streaming down his face, "I was only planning to stay a few hours, I couldn't bring myself to anything less. I never forgot who came with but... I couldn't just leave either..." Scott's head hung low and he wiped his face, "I have to find them, make sure they're safe. And if not, bring their bodies back..."

Spy looked surprised at Scott's sudden sadness. He would've let him go if he knew such things, no matter how long he knew him. But having the boy stay as long as he did, he has grown an embarrassingly strong attachment to him. In that last life, he felt almost no attachment to anything, to anyone. But now, with being alone for so long and being as warped as he was, it would be considered childish on anyone else how quickly he became attached to this boy. But now, here was his only human interaction since forever, and he had to leave. It was hard for him, but even with this strange new sense of strong attachment, he was going to go against it.

"I-can… take-you back…” It was hard for him to say this, everything inside him was screaming at him to not to.

Scott was a bit surprised at the delivery of that message, and picked up on all the pain. He felt a twinge of guilt, "You can?" Spy nodded. He glanced out at the water, "I can't make it in one breath, can I?"

"No,"

"So when you say you can take me back, you mean you can… carry me back?" Scott concluded. It wasn't pleasant to think about, since first impressions weren't very nice. Spy nodded

The boy looked nervous, and he well was. He knew Spy was strong, could swim fast, and could very well take him to where he needed to go, but it was just that. Last time he had been in Spy's grip he had almost died. It nagged at him, even though he had grown a bit fond and trusting of Spy. And even through all that, the last thing he wanted was to be entangled in those… things. He had to clear up how exactly he was going to be carried.

"You're not gonna carry me via those tentacles again, are you?" Spy shook his head, "So how are you?" The thought on how came to him after he said that. Spy outstretched his arms, as to show how, "Ok, I can live with that… I guess,”

Spy got closer and embraced him. It was horribly awkward, but Scott preferred this over those grey things any day, "I'm gonna take a few breaths before we plunge," Scott breathed in and out erratically, then took a deep one and held it. Spy dove into the cold water.

Since his vision was not barred this time, Scott could somewhat see the inside of the BLU base. The water certainly wasn't clean, and light sources were few and far between, but silhouettes were distinguishable and totally gross. There were hallways, rooms, furniture, even broken tech. The water had begun to erode away the concrete and broken panes of glass. Scott pondered if there was anything sharp floating in the water, instantly growing a bit nervous.

Spy was indeed fast, but not fast enough for him to not feel any breathless pain. His breath had disappeared fast and his chest started hurting in that all too familiar way. Instinct kicked in, squirming and calling for air. Scott heard Spy let out a cry in alarm and pick up his speed.

_SPLASH!!!_

"GAAAAAAA-AAAASP!!!"

Scott wasted no time breathing when they finally surfaced. In fact, he swallowed a bit of water in the process. He gasped and choked until it came up along with some yellow bits that Scott recognized from the day before. He crawled up onto the steps and collapsed. He gasped in and out.

"I… need to… improve… my lung capacity..." He gasped out, trying to lighten the mood

There was a worried poke to his side, "Spy, I'm fine," Scott slowly but surely stood up, wobbled a bit, then steadied himself, "thanks to you," He began wobbling towards the opening, but stopped and turned around, "Spy, I--" The beast was gone, there was no sound of him leaving.

The boy let that hang, he had nothing to say to that. The twinge of guilt from before now blanketed his feelings. He couldn't stay there, so he hobbled out into the warm morning sun.

\---------------------

Mary ran out into the open, the sun warming her cold skin. A resident rabbit scurried away, but otherwise she didn't see anybody.

"Anna? Scott?" She called out. No answer, "Anna?? Annie?? Scottie?!" Desperation was beginning to rise in her voice

She heard splashing. She froze, Anna's familiar voice sounded, "D-Doc! I-I'll be back! I'll come back! So… so don't forget about me!" But it wasn't from anywhere visible

"Doc?" The girl asked herself

She waited a second, then in her side vision she saw a fluttering movement. Her eyes darted to the source, a familiar face crawling out from the gap that the covered bridge spanned.

"Anna!!" Mary called and ran to her sister

Said sister jumped a bit and snapped her head to the source of the sudden noise, "Mary!" She scrambled up the last foot of rungs and hugged the stampeding little girl, "You're ok!" She felt her dress and hair, and pulled out of the hug, "You're filthy! All covered in soot and dust and… hair?!"

Mary looked down at her dress, "Oh, so I am!" She looked back up and wrinkled her nose, "What about you?! You're wet and you smell like poop!"

Anna didn't notice, but looked down at her clothes and confirmed her sister's accusations. Mary's face suddenly contorted into one of horror.

"Is that blood?!" Mary grabbed Anna's left sleeve and examined the stain.

Anna jerked her sleeve away and examined it; a large red mark in a vague shape of a hand wrapped around her sleeve. It was where Doc grabbed her to stop her. Dammit, this was her most comfortable shirt too.

"Mary! Anna!"

The sudden exclamation made them jump. They turned their heads to the BLU base, where a soaking wet boy they called brother was limp-running to them.

"Oh, thank g--!!" He tripped and fell on his face, sending up a cloud of dirt. He quickly got up and continued running, "You're alright! You're alright!" He tripped again, right in front of his sisters, and fell onto them in a big bear hug. Tears fell down his cheeks and onto his sister's dirty clothes. "You're both okay! You're both oka-a-a-aaaay!" His sobs broke up that last word

"Yes, Scott, we're alive," Anna choked out from her brother's death hug, "but not if… you choke us both to death!"

"Yeah, and you're getting us wet! And cold!" Mary shivered out

"Oh-Oh! S-sorry!" He pulled away, releasing the two very relieved girls. He took a long look at them, "Hey, you're all dirty,"

"No, of course we're all dirty," Anna exclaimed angrily, "we didn't have the grace of a bath like you did,"

"I didn't take a bath, and where would freezing ice water be found in hot New Mexico desert?"

"Ah--!!" Anna began to retort back, but something clicked together in her mind. Not just hers, but everyone's.

They stared at each other, sharing the same thoughts, wondering about the other's story on how they survived the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this one being a bit shorter than the last one. Can't just give y'all a big exposition dump all every chapter. I'm trying to keep a good pacing here, some chapters longer and others shorter. It's my version of flipping the comic page, pacing is everything to give a good solid impact


	6. All Ponder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We should go home and think about last night

Harry had barely slept at all that night, his mind going back and forth from anger to worry to why-am-I-so-worked-up back to anger again. Eventually giving up, he got up and started doing some chores. He did things like the dishes to dusting to washing windows for hours, all the while keeping a constant vigil on the desert outside. Thankfully his wife was quite a heavy sleeper.

When the sun began to peek out over the ridge, he went and sat on the porch. That lasted about fifteen minutes. Getting cold and impatient he went back inside.

For a lack of better things to do, he turned on the television and just watched whatever was on. Margaret, hearing a commotion for hours, finally registered in her mind that someone was awake. She got up and walked out into the living room.

"Honey, what are you doing up? It's 4:30 in the morning,"

Harry jumped a little and turned to his wife, "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Somewhat,"

"Sorry, Marge, I just couldn't sleep," Harry rubbed his eyes, "I'm worried to death about our kids,"

Margaret sat down next to her husband, "I thought I was the one supposed to be worried to death about them, Harry,"

"You aren't?"

"Of course I am, but you know the instant I hit the pillow I'm out,"

"Yes, I know that," Harry hung his head tiredly, "I've been awake since midnight. I hope you notice this place is quite clean,"

Margaret looked around, and saw he was right, "You've been cleaning for four hours?"

"For a lack of better things to do,"

She let out a chuckle, "Honey, you can't expect them to be up at the crack of dawn to go home," she snuggled with him, "Don't tell me you're gonna be up for another five or six hours worrying about the kids, who are more than likely perfectly safe,"

Harry's eyelids quickly became heavy, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm still gonna give them a scolding once they come home,"

"Oh, don't do that. It's not like they're doing anything wrong. It's just a camping trip, and Scott would look out for his little sisters,"

"I'm gonna scold him for making me worry,"

"If they come back hurt then you can,"

**\------------------**

The light filtering through the blinds woke Harry. He and Margaret had fallen asleep on the couch with the television on. He looked at the clock. 9:46.

"Heh," He smirked and reached for the remote. In doing so, he woke his wife.

She snorted and stirred, eventually sitting up and yawning. The t.v. clicked off, and the house was plunged into a silence. Harry let out a long sigh and held his breath.

His head snapped upright; water was running and hitting the ground. He didn't leave any faucets on… Wait, there are voices too. Harry jumped up, waking his wife fully. He bolted to the front door, swung it open, and ran onto the porch.

"Hi, daddy!"

The kids were back, and soaking wet. As they well should have been, they were spraying each other with the hose, "What are you kids doing?!"

"Washing ourselves off before we trail anything nasty in the house, why?" Scott answered

Harry chugged down the porch stairs and jogged up to his soaking kids. He snatched the hose away, "Why? What did you three roll in?"

Scott grabbed it back, "Long story, dad. Our camping trip wasn't stereotypical, that's for sure,"

"Really?" Harry became wary, "Care to tell me about it?"

This caught the triad in their tracks. What do they tell him? A lie? The truth? Nothing?

"Maybe we..." Anna started, completely unsure on what to say, "found something..."

"Yes, Anna-Beth?" Harry was sure she was gonna spill the beans

"Something, uh..." She rocked on her heels, "r-really gross and t-tripped in it..." She managed to make her quick thinking look like she was scared to admit the truth. Good ol' Anna

"A lot," Mary added in

Harry looked surprised and disgusted at the same time; he was not expecting that. He reeled back, "Ugh. What did you guys find?!"

Anna raised her hand, "I fell in a lot of old pee puddles,"

Mary jumped, "I fell down a hole!"

"And I kept tripping and falling into miscellaneous gross stuff," Scott blurted out without much thought. After all, it was partially true. He assumed the girls' "explanation" was the same.

Their father was silent, a look of disgust carved into his face, "After you're done, take a shower, all of you. And throw those clothes in the laundry," He began towards the house, but stopped upon seeing the loaded cart, "And put that stuff away!" He continued on and closed the door behind him.

"I see they're back," Margaret looked out the window, "Any reason they're hosing each other down?"

"Trust me, they have to. Let's leave it at that,"

Margaret's face contorted into one of disgust, "Eugh,"

"Yeah,"

**\--------------**

Anna was last to hose herself completely off, leaving all three of them standing in a mud and filth puddle. Mary almost threw a mud-ball, but was met swiftly with a face full of water. She cried out in annoyance at her little game getting halted before it started.

"C'mon, let's just put the stuff away. We've gotta clean up, y'know?" Scott turned off the water.

They spent the next five minutes putting everything away, which wasn't too hard, since there wasn’t too much stuff. The last thing was the food inside the cooler, and they had to be inside for that. Scott parked the cart, and proceeded to carry the cooler inside.

Margaret took one look at the wet kids and proceeded to scold, "Scott Fenrir!! Don't you dare walk in here soaking wet. Same with you two!"

"But we're not SOAKING wet, per se," Scott remarked

"Don't you be a smart ass. You three sit in there until you are dry enough," She pointed at the small room they just came from, "And I'll take that!" She took the cooler.

"Ok," they all said in unison and sat on the floor.

They glanced to see their mother putting the food away, and their father was probably in his study working. This was the perfect chance. They all leaned in.

"Lemme guess, monsters?" Scott whispered, the sisters nodding in response, "I thought so, me too,"

"You were all wet when we met up, so I think you en-count-tered a fish monster?" Anna asked in a hushed tone

"Almost; octopus, uh, ish. That place is flooded!” He turned to the next oldest, “What about you?"

"Sewer," She answered, "I snuck away (sorry) and got lost down there. Don't know what my monster looks alike to,"

They turned to Mary, their eyes asking her to explain hers.

"I saw a patch of flowers growing from the concrete; I had to see it," She whispered, "I got caught and he dragged me into the vent. He's like a kitty!" She smiled and shuffled around on her spot.

"I see. Question: did they look human-ish?" Scott asked. More nods, "Mine too… Did they want to eat you at first?"

Anna nodded, but Mary replied differently, "He looked hungry, but I don't know if he wanted to eat me," Mary shuffled to sit Indian-style, "I gave him my sandwich,"

"If my hunch is right, he probably did want to eat you at first,"

"Maybe..."

"My monster was a doctor," Anna put in, "I call him Doc,"

"Mine's Scoot!" Mary said that a little loud

"What's a 'Scoot'?" Margaret asked from the kitchen

"Nothing, mom. Just jabbering," Scott answered

"Fine,"

"Why Scoot?" Anna asked a lot quieter

"Because it's his name. He scratched it into the wall," Mary answered

"Good enough for me. My monster's name is Spy,"

"Spy?!" Anna was rather surprised at this, "An octopus-man named Spy? Where's the sense in that?"

"He told me it was the only name he remembered himself being. According to him, everyone went by codename. He remembers other things, just not his birth name. All he knows is his codename: Spy,"

"I'm still calling Scoot Scoot," Mary pouted

"Chances are he doesn't remember his own name, so he carved his name into the wall while he still knew it. Scoot is still a strange name, though,"

"What about Doc?" Anna asked, always interested in these little logic spiels of his.

"Well, you did say he was a doctor of some sort previously. Maybe his codename was Doctor or a different word for such," he pondered for a short while, "Nurse? Uh… Healer? (what? That's weird. No, forget I said that) Maybe… Medic?" Scott racked his brain, "That’s all I’ve got, it may be something else. What else did you guys notice?"

"Scoot likes hats," Mary put in

"So does Doc,"

"I noticed a few hats with Spy too. Maybe they made hats there. No, there would be equipment--"

"Back on topic, brother," Anna interrupted

"Ok ok, they like hats. What else?"

There was a pause, before a thought came. Anna hung her head as if she knew something embarrassing, and Scott noticed.

"Anna?" She shifted uncomfortably, but stayed silent, “Come on, out with it Annie,” lowering her gaze to the floor, she mumbled out something the others couldn't hear.

"What?" Mary stated what was on hers and her brother’s mind

"Anna, we didn't hear you," 

"I said it, I'm not saying it again,"

They let it drop; once Anna holds her ground, there's no talking her out of it, "Anything else?"

They all pondered for a good while.

"I dunno, that's about all for me," Anna said at last, breaking the silence

"Me too," Mary admitted

"I guess that's the end of that then," Scott made to stand up, and came face to face with his mother, "Mom?"

She poked him, "You're dry enough. All of you, upstairs now. Don't come back down until you smell of purity," She ushered them up the stairs.

Scott was the first to shower. He took a good fifteen minutes, and came out sparkling clean and smelling considerably less like eu deu monsters' lair. He walked into his room and threw his wet towel onto the chair in the corner.

He jumped onto his bed and grabbed his book, Fellowship of the Ring, and opened to where he left off. He was nearing the end, and was at the part where they were captured by the elves and Legolas breaks the news that Gandalf's dead. He read on for a good minute before something mundane came to his attention, his sketchbook. He wanted desperately to draw, he realized. No matter, he pushed the urge aside and continued reading. But despite this, however, it did little to quell the burn and his eyes kept wandering to it. After fifteen minutes of this nasty cycle, he relented. He put the book down and grabbed the sketchbook.

After flipping past his anatomy sketches and countless abstracts, he opened to a blank page and stared at it. The desire burned, but he didn't know what exactly to draw; he hated when that happened. He rummaged through his pencils and drew his hard-leaded one, hoping that holding the instrument would get the juices flowing. After ten seconds, nothing. In another attempt to get something going, he began to mindlessly scribble on the page.

Inspiration hit him, but he hesitated. Is drawing that a good idea? He was never one to draw total beasts, just anatomy and abstracts. So if his parents see this, there will be questions, and knowing his father, they will be fairly prying questions.

The desire burned and it hurt, and it brought the carelessness with it. He twirled his pencil, turned on the lamp, and commenced to draw.

He had drawn for ten minutes, getting a clean sketch, when the door opened. He jumped a little when the door handle clicked and hid the sketchbook away.

"Scott?" It was just Anna, "Are you in here?"

Scott breathed a small sigh of relief, "Yes, I'm in here, it's my room,"

"Ok, he's in here," She said off to the side. Scott panicked again

"Yay!" Mary's voice sounded and she bounded inside, long wet hair spraying everything as it bounced around, including his eyes. She leapt onto his bed, "What'cha doin', Scotty?" 

He hesitated, "Drawing,"

Anna stepped in, sat on the floor and rested her chin on the bed, "Drawing what?"

Scott got a gist on what they were doing, and backlashed, "None of your business!"

"C'mon Scotty, tell us!" Mary smiled and jumped up and down a bit

"No!" He pushed her away, "I see what you guys are doing, and I'm not telling you,"

"But we already know what you're drawing," Anna remarked

Scott recoiled and looked at her warily, "You do?"

Anna looked annoyed, "Knowing you, it's a big DUH!"

"Then what am I drawing?"

"Your monster," Anna said simply, smirking all the way and enjoying her brother's surprised face, "It's not that hard to figure out, Scotty-Wotty-Potty,"

Scott grimaced at her, then gave up, "Fine! You win," He pulled his sketchbook from it's hiding place, "Yes, I was drawing my monster. What of it?" He opened it to the said drawing.

Mary gawked at it, "He looks scary..." She said, drawing back a bit

"I know. That's because he is," He turned his sketchbook to him, "That is, until you spend a little time with him. He's just lonely,"

"We were wondering..." Anna interrupted, "If you could..." She trailed off

"If I could what?"

"If we tell you what our monsters look like, will you draw them?" Mary finished for her,

"Yes. That," Anna glared at her sister

"Why? Can't you draw them yourselves?" Scott asked

"We're not as good as you are, so you should do it," 

Scott felt a little honored, "I… guess. Only if you guys describe them accurately to me. I make one mistake, you'll get mad at me, so understand that I am going from what you're telling me," he picked up his pencils and sketch pad and readied himself, "Who's fir--?"

"Ooh!! Memememememe!!" Mary flailed her arm around and blabbered out excitedly,

"Alright, alright, calm down sis. Go on,"

Mary went on and described her monster, complete with volunteering to show what pose he would draw him, hunched over on all fours. The end result was a skinny, snouted, pointy-eared, glowy-eyed, hunchbacked, wrinkled, long-haired, fanged, clawed, humanoid monster; complete with ripped clothing. Mary looked at it in satisfaction.

"That's my Scoot!" She exclaimed happily, "Thank you, Scott," She fell forward and gave him a big hug.

The boy gave a little chuckle, "Well, you're welcome. Hey," Scott thought about it, "now that I hear that, your friend's name sounds like mine,"

Mary gave a look of surprise, "Oh, so it does," She gave a little giggle, squeezed her brother, then let go to sit back down on the bed.

"My turn," Anna stood up and posed, "He can't stand up straight, but he tries, so put that in. Oh, and he does this," She held her hands up like a T-Rex, but lower. Scott doodled the wireframe.

Anna went on to describe Doc, and Scott followed her instructions. The end result: a ratty-looking, hunched man monster with large bags under his slit-pupiled eyes, a flattened nose, long floppy ears, a rat's nest for hair with a part of it falling over his face, pike teeth, cut up skin, long claws, complete with ripped up medical clothes. Anna looked at Scott's final product.

"That's Doc, alright," She smiled a mile, and gave him a side hug, "Thanks,"

Scott patted her on her back, "You're welcome,"

Anna swiftly let go and sat back onto the floor. Both the girls stared at Scott with hopeful eyes. It quickly became awkward, "What?"

"What's Spy like?" Mary leaned forward, eyes wide with curiosity. Scott pushed her back to her position before.

"Yeah, what's your monster like?" Anna echoed her sister

"You know from the sketch I showed you guys earlier," He held up and showed them said sketch

"Yeah, but that's, like, half of him,"

"He's in the water,"

"We get that, but could you tell us what he's like? What he looks like exactly, n' stuff,"

The boy pondered for a moment, "Well, he's rather tall, his tentacles make him look pretty big. Color-wise, he's hardly any different from my sketch; his skin and tentacles are all dark shades of grey. His eye color is even a light grey. His hair is blackish-brown with hints of white. The mask he wears is a faded teal color. His shirt used to be white, I can tell, but the water and filth made it dingy. So the only color on him is his mask. Not that that matters, really,"

"What's he like? I mean, really like?" Anna had leaned in with curiosity as well

"I get the impression he used to be a lot harder personality-wise. He feels a bit ashamed and reluctant to do a few things, but eager to do them at the same time. Almost like he's embarrassed by his own softness, but he can't help himself. I guess that's what happens when one's all alone for extended periods of time," Scott thought for a bit, "He's a Frenchman; well, WAS one, I guess. Uh… he talks hissy; y'know, has this strange hiss to his voice and when he gets mad he hisses loudly. He can see underwater in the dark. Uh, has a sixth sense to be able to pick up vibrations, like vibrations in the water and if someone's stomach rumbles," he said that last example with an edge of knowing, "Lessee uh… he--no, not that--um..." Scott pounded his head, trying to remember what else he knows about his friend, "Oh! He doesn't breath underwater, he can hold his breath for fifteen to twenty minutes. His skin is hard and scaly, making it hard to hurt him. His mouth can unhinge like a snake, but not as far. His tongue is really long and whiplash, it can rope prey if he gets close enough… and I do think that's all. Your turn," Scott leaned back on his bed

"Whose?" Mary asked, "What?" Anna asked on top of Mary

"I just described my monster to you guys. Now you two do the same. I volunteer Anna,"

"No way, I vol-in… I say Mary goes next!"

"Aww, do I have to?!" She whined

Scott shrugged, "I dunno, do you want to? You're outvoted anyway, seeing I don't really care who goes next and Anna says you should,"

Mary’s face flushed with color, "But-but I'm not ready," she timidly squeaked out

"C'mon Mary, please?" Anna begged at her sister

"Ok," She was silent for a little while, "H-his face isn't actually wrinkled, it's torn. If he opens it too far it opens wide,"

"So it kinda unhinges too, but instead of stretchy skin it broke… huh," Scott mused

Mary looked a bit distraught she shared that, "H-he walks on his hands and feet and his back is curved. His hands and feet are rough, they feel like sandpaper. His neck is really long. His eyes glow and he looks like he needs sleep. His face is out like a kitty's face, and his teeth stick out when he closes his mouth. He can move his ears up and down," She blushed and smiled when she said that, "It's really cute… His skin is as white as milk, his hair is muddy brown, his shirt is red, but it's dirty and ripped. He wears a baseball hat, and refuses to take it off or let anyone else take it off. I tried," She paused, "He doesn't really like being touched, but he lets me hug him. Um," she remembered Scott's description of Spy's voice, "his voice sounds broken. It sounds like when you walk on gravel,"

"Raspy and growly, right?" Scott suggested again

"Yeah, I guess,"

"Anything else?"

"Um… what do you want to know?"

"I dunno, can you tell he's from somewhere? Does he talk strange, aside from the obvious growly bits?" he offered

"I guess he does, he connects his words together sometimes, like there's no space between them. Uh, his 'ah' sounds like 'aw'--"

"Somewhere up East, I think,"

"Scott, I was talking!"

"Sorry, carry on," he motioned with his hand to continue

"Uh, that's all I know, unless you want to know how he lives,"

"No no, that's enough. Thank you, Mary," Scott answered her, "Anna, your turn,"

Anna looked shocked, "Huh?! Why me?"

Scott rolled his eyes, "Because you're the only one who hasn't gone, duh,"

"Oh, oh yeah," Anna mumbled. Scott groaned, "What do I know about Doc… you need to tell me what you want to know, 'cause I can't think of anything specific,"

"Ok, since me and Mary pretty much said the same things, maybe I should just name you a checklist," Scott pondered a moment, "Uh, a more detailed description on what he looks like, what he can do, if his voice has an accent, what you know about his life before becoming a monster, and uh… um… anything else you want to throw in,"

Upon hearing the list, Anna went into thinking mode. After a minute of pondering, she began.

"His nose is rather flat, as you know. His eyes are reflective yellow, not glowing, and have dark bags under them; like he really needs sleep. His ears move ac-cord-ing to his mood and when he tells them to, and the tips flop around when he moves. His hair is black and white and grey and really messy and long. His mouth opens a little bigger than normal, since the sides of his mouth are stretched out, but it doesn't do that un-hinge-ing thing. His skin is green and a bit brown, and it is scarred and ripped and peeling. One hand is bandaged," she pointed to her right hand, "His clothes seem to once be white, but that first coat," She pointed to Scott's drawing, "is grey and blue and red in places. His shirt is just grey. His tie is blue, loose and ripped. His pants are brown, but the color is fading and is turning grey. Uh… his claws are brown and long and really thick. Um..." She mentally pulled up the checklist, "His voice is growly and sounds like he needs to cough. He has an accent, but I don't know what it is. His 'th' sounds like 'zz', and his 'w' sounds like 'v'," She looked at Scott hopefully

"I'm guessing… German? Russian maybe? I dunno, thinking out loud here,"

"Uh… I already said he's a doctor. He healed a big bump in my head when I hit a pipe," She pulled her hair back and pointed to the right edge of her head, right over her large forehead scar, "And uh… I already said that,"

"Well, of course you did," Mary said, "He healed a bump you got from hitting a pipe,"

"No no, not that," Anna looked down,

"Huh? Said what?" Anna looked to the right, and mumbled something under her breath, again, "Oh, that," Scott huffed, "C'mon, why are you hiding it?"

"Because it's weird and… uh… weird,"

"What is it? Anna, we're just gonna grill you until you tell us,"

"Alright!!" Anna shrieked, "He… plays the violin..." She mumbled it out, but it was still audible

Scott was stunned. "That's it? He can play the violin? Why is that something to be ashamed of? If anything, it's really gnarly he can do that still after all that change. Why is it embarrassing?"

"Because..." Anna shifted uncomfortably, "because he's teaching me..."

There was a small, stunned silence from the other two siblings. Anna hung her head in embarrassment.

"Th-that's it?" Scott huffed, "That's awesome! This would be great for you! It would help with your memory, your fine motor control, everything! Why do you find that shameful?"

"Because it's… nerdy,"

"So? Who's gonna care? It's not like we're in a terribly social situation."

She looked back up, looking relieved but still nervous at the same time, "But still, playing stuck-up rich music is boring and weird and geeky,"

"Anna, get it through your head!" Scott grabbed his hair in frustration, "That doesn't matter! Playing the violin would be so beneficial to you! It could help you in so many ways! Did you enjoy his lessons?" Anna hesitated before nodding, "If you enjoy it, who cares if someone listens?! This is a win-win situation, Annie. Only good can come out of this!"

"And you can play music for me to dance to," Mary chimed in happily

The door busted open, revealing a concerned Margaret, "Why are you all yelling?"

There was a brief silence before the siblings directed their attention to Anna.

"Go on," Scott thrust his hand out to their mother, "tell her,"

Anna hesitated, then stood up and faced her mother, "Mom, c-can I have a violin?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shizznuggets I had to revise this part a whole heckin' lot. What kind of writer was I back '13? Not a very good one, I'm seeing. Oh well, it flows better now.
> 
> Like I said before, this is hardly TF2 at all; the mercs are not the main focus here, but rather the "effect." I wrote this out as the events of TF2 being an "effect" in this story. Think Cause and Effect, the mercs Caused a lot of commotion, and others are feeling the Effect of it.
> 
> Oh, and here's an example of what these monsters look like: http://fav.me/da865au


	7. Friends Like These

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A friend in need is a friend indeed

After a vigorous thumbs up from everyone in the family, Anna obtained a violin and all the supplies needed. It was used, so it was a bit scuffed up; there was a chip in the neck and the bow had a few loose hairs, but it didn't matter to Anna. She was overjoyed to have it, used or not. The first day she got it she stayed in her room the whole day, playing simple songs like "Mary had a Little Lamb", "Hot Cross Buns", "Oh, Susanna", and "Rock A-Bye Baby". Everyone in the household was surprised at how fast she "picked it up," but Scott and Mary knew the truth.

The weeks rolled on; homework, art, books, violin, work, flower planting, more homework, etc etc. It became repetitive and increasingly boring. As their parents observed, they seemed to lose a little life every day. They pulled them aside one Tuesday and made this known.

"I miss my friends," Mary said for everyone, "I miss them really bad," 

"Do you want to write a letter to them?" Margaret suggested.

The three kids perked up. Mary's statement had a double meaning, and they knew it, but that didn't mean their parents did. But still, writing to those who were faithful to them even through terrible rumors and bullying seemed refreshing.

Scott grabbed a piece of lined paper, a pencil, and began to write.

_Dear Charlie,_

_How's life treating you? I hope better than mine is treating me; it's so boring out here in the New Mexico desert, all alone, no one around for miles, dirt and mountains as far as the eye can see… Yeah. I miss you, man. You really were my comfort through that tough year, as weird and girly as that sounds._

_Anna's doing great. She's deciding to take up the violin, which we all thought was fantastic. She's a pretty fast learner; she has Rock-A-Bye Baby and Oh, Suzanna down pat, and it's only the first two weeks she's had it! I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the month she has that Lone Ranger theme down, speed and all!_

_It may be boring out here, but about five miles where we live, there's something of interest_

He stopped writing. Should he tell Charlie everything? He wanted to, desperately, but should he? How weird would that sound? It’s kind of sensitive news, and Charlie knows what he's like; he could be sending him a summary of some new adventure fantasy. He wasn't, and he never has, but it still was fairly in-character. After a minute of thinking, he erased that sentence and started again.

_About five miles or so where we live, there's some abandoned constructs. Apparently there's been some toxic spills, and they fled the scene. That place is covered with keep out signs! I haven't been anywhere near that place since me and dad checked it out when we first moved here, it gives me the creeps. It's haunting to look out my window at night and see it sitting there, all abandoned and toxic. What are we doing so close to it, you say? Well, the toxic stuff had been cleaned out, or so we were told. I don't know how they did it, but we've been here a month and we're not sick or have a third eye, so I guess we're fine._

_Hope to hear from you,  
Scott_

He folded his letter and placed it into the envelope. He gave it to his mom and proceeded to his room. He closed the door with a small click, and sat on his dirty sheets. He felt low and gloomy, writing that letter had done both good and bad. He let out a big sigh, sat there for a minute, then got out his sketchbook. He wanted to draw, anything to get his mind away from his depressing thoughts.

He flipped passed the anatomy sketches, abstracts, the monsters, to a blank page. In a compulsive want, he turned a page back. He stared at his sketches of the monsters, feeling a strange sense of guilt well up. He didn't know what to make of it, but still, he felt it.

He was so distracted he didn't hear his door open. The light coming from the hallway broke his concentration from the drawings. Mary's small, slightly silhouetted being stood holding the doorknob. He couldn't exactly make out what her expression was, but hearing her slight sniffling told him everything.

"Mary?" Scott asked, concerned, "What's wrong?"

She stepped into the room, her face becoming more clear. She was indeed crying, "Scott," Mary sniffled out, "I wanna go back,"

"Where? To Chicago?"

She shook her head, and pointed to the sketchbook. It was obvious.

"I miss him,"

\--------------------------

"And where are you three going this time?"

"Same place. We may or may not run through disgusting stuff, so we're packing extra clothes," 

They had told their parents they were going on another camping trip. It seemed especially unusual to them, especially since they had just gone on one three weeks ago.

"Should one of us go along?"

"NO!!" All three called out at the same time. Their parents shrunk back a little.

"It defeats the purpose. We're trying to form a stronger bond between each other," Scott quickly saved

"But why not between family?" Harry asked

"Because we're with you guys all day every day. Just us siblings we can relieve some pressures from amongst each other. And besides, aren't we in desperate need to get out of the house?"

Scott had a point, both of them agreed.

"Alright, but just overnight. No more than that," Margaret made sure to point out

"Alright alright, no more than overnight! We get it!" Anna snapped, "You've made that very clear,"

"Oh, right..." She turned a glare towards her husband, recalling the egregious times he made that point. Harry turned away slightly in response

They climbed into the cart. Scott started it, Anna held onto her violin case, and Mary sat in the back.

"Just be safe, ok?" Harry stated over the engine

"We'll be fine, Dad," Scott assured, "I can guarantee you that,"

"Alright, then," Harry stepped back and watched the cart and all its occupants drive away.

After a couple minutes, Harry was still standing there, eyeing the ever present dust cloud that cart kicked up. Margaret took notice, and was a bit concerned, "Harry, what are you doing?"

"Seeing where their 'place' is," He said back, "I wanna be sure they're not anywhere near those buildings,"

Margaret groaned and rolled her eyes, "Harry, honey, stop being so paranoid. I believe them when they said they aren't anywhere near it. Maybe it was in their sight, but that doesn't mean they went exploring in it,"

"They said they fell in something gross, and kept that description vague. I'd say I'm given reason to be suspicious,"

Margaret look frustrated, "Honey, look out there," she motioned to the desert, "look at all that desert. There's plenty of pee puddles and holes and miscellaneous gross stuff to fall into,"

"Yes, but since when were our children open to exploring?"

"Harry Fenrir," She was getting sick of her husband's stubbornness, "Do you see anything to do out here? Other than go camping and explore? It's healthy for the kids, anyway. They're getting fresh air and getting exercise. They’re bonding with each other, don’t you want that?"

"It's a fifteen-twenty minute drive to town!"

"You know how Scott feels about getting behind the wheel," This was almost escalating to a shouting match, "and you don't even go into town for work! You make phone calls and regulate stocks here at home! This place is brand-new to them, and so what if they're willing to look out in nature rather than in a town they've never seen before?" Margaret paused and took a deep breath, calming down, "All in due time, Harry. All in due time,"

Despite all his suspicions, Harry had to admit his dear Marge had a point. He held his head down a bit, "Y-you're right. I shouldn't be so quick to judge my own kids,"

Margaret comforted him, "It's ok, honey. You're just being a father, that's all. Come inside, let's make ourselves some dinner and turn on that trashy movie,"

He smiled and wrapped his arm around his wife, "Yes, but instead of that trashy movie, let's turn on a Disney movie,"

"From the kid's stash? Sure, let's do that first," Margaret chimed as the two of them walked inside.

\-------------------

"Wait, why do we have to set up the tent?" Mary asked, "I thought we were spending the night with our monsters,"

"Changing purposes, really," Scott answered, "See this?" He rummaged in his bag and pulled out a lump of thick shiny cloth, "This is my old wetsuit,"

"I thought that thing didn't fit you," Anna implied

"I thought that too, until I tried it on before we left. I prepare for these things, you know,"

Both girls looked surprised, "Ugh, that's weird,"

"It is NOT weird!" He still got the strange glances, "Ugh! Help me set up this thing and you two can go ahead."

And so they promptly set up the tent. And by promptly, I mean they struggled with it, almost ripped it, and had everything in the wrong peg. It was almost noon by the time the tent was finally set up.

Temper almost flaring, Scott wiped his brow of sweat, "Ok, you two can go now," Scott almost yelled through gritted teeth, and took his wetsuit inside and put it on. When he came back out the two of them were still standing there, "Ok then. Let's go together,"

Sandwiches, violin, and old snorkeling mask in tow, the trio headed off to 2fort.

"Do you think Scooty forgot me?" Mary asked, worry coating her voice

"Of course not!" Anna reassured her and stroked her sandy-blonde hair, "Why would he?"

"Well, we've been gone for a long time. Maybe he gave up waiting for me?" 

Mary sent a jolt through her siblings. If they haven't forgotten, they've probably lost hope. They all shared the same look, and took off all the faster.

Anna shoved her violin supplies through the little hole in the fence before ninja-ing her way over the fence, making double sure to rub it in the struggling Scott's face.

"You braggart! Whoa--oof!" He lost his balance shaking his fist at Anna and fell to the ground

"It's what I do best," she smirked.

The cling-clangy sound of Mary climbing through the little hole was heard, and so was the little shuffling of feet as she approached them.

Scott got to his feet and brushed off the wetsuit, "Ok then, do we agree?" He said, "Mary, you want to stay the night?" She nodded vigorously, "Anna, you probably do too?"

"I might lose track of time, so yeah,"

"Ok. Our food?"

"Got it!" Mary dug through her satchel and dug out two sandwiches. She had made a dozen different kinds and had them all shoved in there. She handed them out to her siblings before zipping the bag back up and looking cute.

"Ok then. Don't eat them all. We need to eat breakfast before we leave, y'know."

"I know!" Mary jumped up, saying that a little loud

"As for me, I think you guys convinced me to stay the night," Scott stiffened, "that sounds slightly awkward..."

"Dirty dirty mind," Anna shamed

"Shut up," Scott smacked her accusing finger away, "Alright, we'll all be back by ten at the latest. No worrying our parents, ok?"

"Got ya," "Yes!" came the replies.

"Alright, see ya in the morning," Scott signaled the all clear, and Mary bounded off to the RED base in a happy trot.

"Shall we, miss?" Scott held his hand out in mock formality

"We shall, good sir," Anna copied his tone and behavior and took his hand. They walked together to the bridge, "Thank you, good sir," She curtsied

"You are very welcome, sweet miss," He released her hand and bowed formally.

He watched her descend down into the sewer pool beneath, and walk into the large concrete pipe. He heard her call out, "Doc! Oh Dooooo-ooooc!" until it faded into the sewers. He gave a little laugh and continued into the flooded BLU base.

\---------------

Mary found the familiar room, stepped over that chair, and sat on the patch of grass. She stared off into the darkness of the vent. She wasn't scared, but rather thought that it was missing something. She leaned into the vent and called out,

"Scoot! Oh, Scootey! I'm back!" 

She heard a faint cry deep in the duct, and that was soon met with loud clanging and clacking as the familiar beast threw stealth to the wind. The clanging got louder as he drew nearer, and soon she saw his glow of his eyes in the metal. His silhouette popped into view, glowing eyes looking elated.

She didn't wait for him to come any closer. With ecstasy bursting in her chest, she took off into the vent, colliding into the creature and giving him a big hug across the chest. It didn't take long for him to return the favor.

"Oh boy, did I miss you!"

All Scoot managed to get out was a happy whine.

She let go of her friend and looked into his eyes, "I have some things for you! But first," She got back into crawling position, "let's go back there!" She pointed down the duct

Scoot led the way down the vent, taking the same twists and turns as before, and soon the ducts opened up to his lair. Not much had changed, though it did stink a bit. Probably from that soda-soaked blanket that was most likely still there. No matter, Mary sat in the pile of blankets with an elated Scoot looking at her hopefully.

She opened her satchel, "I know how much you like sandwiches, so I made you all kinds!" She pulled one halfway out of its plastic Baggie, "Here! Try this one!"

Scoot took the bag gingerly, looked at it, tore away the bag, and proceeded to wolf it down. He licked the sides of his mouth loudly; Mary took that as a compliment.

"What was that one?" She asked

"Pea-nut Bu-tter," he growled between licks, “Jelly?”

"How about this one?" She took out another sandwich, opened it, and handed the food to him. He sniffed it, and wolfed that one down.

"Cheese… Lettuce," He growled in reply

She smiled and took another one out. Scoot backed away, "No-more,"

"Relax, this one's for me," She took a bite, "Ham and tomato,"

Scoot eased back and watched her consume the sandwich with intent. He cocked his head to one side when she finished.

She licked her fingers "What?" He looked down at her satchel and started poking at it, "You do want more?" He hastily shook his head, "Do you want to see it?" He nodded, "Ok, here," She took off her satchel and handed it to him.

He snatched it away, and instantly began to examine it. He looked inside, chewed on the leather straps, closed the button and opened it again. He seemed so childishly curious, it entertained the girl to no end.

"Yes, it's my bag," Mary couldn't keep her smile off her face, "Can I have it back?"

Scoot stopped and hesitated before taking it out of his mouth and giving it back to her. She didn't wipe the drool off when she slung it back around her shoulder, "So," she said right after, "care to show me around this place? I'll be here all night,"

\--------------------------

"Doc? Hello, Doktor!" Anna called through the sewer, enunciating a bit on the "c", hoping to get a reply, "Here Docky Docky Docky Docky!"

**"ANNA!!"**

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" She nearly dropped her violin gear when she heard the familiar raspy voice yell her name from behind her. She turned around to see Doc laughing so hard he was rolling around in the water, "Hey! What kind of gree-ting is that?!" He laughed even harder, "I-it's not funny!" He was laughing so hard he was crying and wheezing, "Ok then, I'm leaving!" She waltzed past him with her nose in the air

"Ok, ok," he wheezed out and got up, "I-sorry," he let out a chuckle, but tried to restrain himself.

Anna glared knives at him, but couldn't help letting out a little giggle, and soon her face softened into a grin, "Ok, MAYBE it was kinda funny… Anyways, I got a violin!" She patted her case, "And I've been practicing! I can't wait to show you! Maybe we can play a song in that cool different tune way two players do,"

"Duet?"

"Yeah, that," She smiled a mile, "Shall we?" She held her hand out in the same mock-formal way she did with Scott.

Doc's expression changed to a sly knowing look, took her hand, and started leading her through the tunnel.

\----------------------

Scott took off his shoes and socks and placed them by the ruined entrance. The concrete floor was a bit cold, and Scott figured the cold won't stop when he entered the water. He approached the water's edge, a bit unsure on how to beckon the octopus man. Unlike the other two, he didn't have a chance to promise he'd be back, so he didn't know how Spy would react to him.

"Retrace your steps, Scott; what did you do last time?" He pondered, then it hit him, "Of course," He stuck his foot into the water slowly and shook it about, making a disturbance on the water surface. The ice water was frigid, and Scott drew his foot back after a few seconds of flailing his foot in the water. He jumped back and tried to warm his foot.

"Man, what water temperatures to live in-- AAAAAH!!" Scott's to-myself mumblings turned into a scream as Spy burst forth from the water, tentacles flaring, claws extended, needle teeth exposed, whiplash tongue ready to strike. Scott, out of instinct, backed away, barely missing the swipe of Spy's black claws, "Whoa whoa whoa, dude it's me!" He was shaking; that was terrifying.

Spy hissed, then his face lit up in realization. He facepalmed and swore in French. He drew himself back into the water, looking quite apologetic.

"I forgive you already, no need to say anything," Scott put his hands up, "I didn't get a chance to say I'd ever want to come back, so I'm saying it now, 'I want to come back,'" Spy looked rather surprised, "And this time, I came prepared," he gestured to his everything, "My old wetsuit still fits me, but that water is still freezing cold,"

Spy tilted his head and knitted his eyebrows together, "Why?"

"Why? Because wetsuits are made for cold wat-- oh," he realized what he meant, "because I like you, and we both need a friend really bad,"

"But-sisters?"

"Oh, they're fine," Scott waved that notion off, "they've got their own fr--" A thought hit his brain, "You do know you're not alone here, right?"

Spy just stared at him in neither confusion or confirmation. Scott wasn't even sure what emotion that was, "They're fine. We have a plan," He backed up, "I'm here to keep you company," he ran forward and jumped, tucking, "CANNONBALL!!!"

Spy yelped and backed out of the way as Scott hit the water and sent up a huge wall of water, drenching Spy and the walls around them. Scott resurfaced almost instantly.

"AAAAAHHH!! Coldcoldcoldcold!!" Scott desperately flailed around in the water, but eventually stopped and treaded water, "Man, am I glad I did that all at once," he looked at Spy's confused face, "Well, I'm here to keep you company, and perhaps learn how to hold my breath a little longer," he adjusted his diving mask, "Let's get to it!"

\-------------------------

The warm morning sun didn't come out that morning, rather it was blocked out by leaden clouds. By the time everyone decided to meet up, it was pouring rain. They met together, and proceeded to run up and over the fence all the way to the tent, once again untouched other than being sloughed by rain. They all crawled inside, soaking wet.

"So, how did your night go?" Scott asked while Mary handed out some breakfast sandwiches

"We played the violin for hours. I had my first duet," Anna replied

"You just played the violin the whole time?"

"Naw. He led me to some places in the sewer. He showed me a large-- what’d he called it-- a gen-er-ator. He told me not to touch. It blew up at one point; was mangled and twisted," she took a massive bite out of her sandwich

"Ok, what about you, Mary?"

"He showed me around the vent and we ate sandwiches and he gave me some pencils and paper and I drew him a picture!"

"Cool. We swam around for hours; my muscles still hurt from all the swimming. He showed me some rooms and what was inside them at one point or another. Almost drowned twice. I also almost got cut by some floating debris," He showed them where the wetsuit was ripped but his skin wasn't, "I am very glad this thing is as thick as it is,"

A small moment of silence between them, besides the loud chewing and relentless rain outside, "So, we comin' back?" Scott said at last

"Big time," Anna replied through a mouth full of food

"Please?"

"So, by popular vote, we make this 'camping' trip a reoccurring thing," Scott proposed, and was greeted by fervent nods, "Right then, shall we change? Ladies first,"

Scott left the tent and left them to their changing, standing out in the small section of the tent that had an overhang, and was sagging from the water collecting in the middle. No power today, he assumed. When they finished, they switched places and he quickly changed. Everyone sat inside, all three with varying amounts of wet.

"Mary, can I have another sandwich please? Swimming burns a lot of calories,"

"Coming right up!" She reached in and pulled out another sandwich. The boy tucked in instantly

“Me too?” Anna asked as well. She was provided

"This one’s peanut butter and honey," Scott said out loud, “the one before was just grape jelly,”

"I had lettuce, cheese, and tomato," Anna responded. She lifted the loaves of bread to check the contents, “This one’s turkey, I think,”

"Mine was ham and tomato," Mary said in return, having had more than her share the past night

They ate their food and listened as the storm grew ever worse. They finished quickly and began to pick up camp, and tried to do it quickly to avoid getting as wet as possible. Of course it didn't work. When they got all the water out of the cart, loaded up said cart, and were completely ready to go back home, they were soaked to the bone. Scott tried to be optimistic.

"At least the rain is warmer than Spy's lake," He turned the cart on, and they took off towards the house.

The cart was a rugged, tough one, and it braved the mud of the rain-soaked desert. It didn't keep them from getting dirty, though. They pulled up to the house and just like last time, Harry bounded outside.

"You three are filthy! And I take it those are your change of clothes?"

They all nodded.

"You go inside and dry off, I'll unload the cart. Take in your stuff, though,"

They did as they were told and once again told to sit in the laundry room until they were dry enough. They grabbed some beach towels and quickly dried themselves off. They bounded up to their rooms and waited their turn for showers.

Scott didn't grab the first shower, so he waited in his room, rain pattering on his window. He grabbed Fellowship and finished the last few pages. By the time he was finished, Anna had gotten out of the shower. Seeing his opportunity, he jumped up.

"DIBS!!" He called out and grabbed his fresh underwear. He ran out into the bathroom and shut the door. Showers were the time Scott sat there and mulled things over; how and why life exists, recent life problems, and how or why the human body works the way it does were just a few of the topics that ran through his head at these times. This time he would think about monsters. He turned the water on and climbed inside.

His thoughts boiled in his head as he did his normal routine, going as slow as ever. Why are they there? What happened there before? What were they like before all this--?

"Scott!!" Mary pounded on the door, "No fair, I was next! Hurry up!!"

"You weren't fast enough! And fine, I'll hurry up!" Scott called back

"Be faster! I don't like being muddy,"

Scott stopped his relentless train of thought and washed quickly. He made sure the mud was gone and turned the water off. He dried and dressed quickly and sloppily, and stepped out to find Mary still standing there.

"You're welcome," He spat and huffed of to his room.

He slammed his door and flopped onto his bed. He heard the water turn on. He remembered something and decided to go downstairs.

He bounded down and saw his mom preparing dinner in the kitchen, and his dad nowhere in sight. Upon the loud stairs announcing his arrival, his mom turned around.

"Hey," Scott said deadpan.

"Hello, my boy," she acknowledged his presence and went back to her vegetable chopping.

Scott sat on the bar stools by the counter, "Hey mom, can I ask you something?"

She looked surprised, and turned to face him, "Yes?"

"Well," Scott rubbed the back of his head, "have you noticed any changes in us since we went on these camping trips?"

His mom seemed perplexed by his question, "Well, Anna suddenly decided to take up violin, Mary comes home with a renewed confidence in herself, and sandwiches, and you seem to be happier. So yes, I do see a difference in you three,"

In the small silence, Turkey in the Straw was heard from upstairs.

"Is it… ok that we make this camping trip a normal thing?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's me, hoping to fill out the backstory of this poor family a little more. Not a lot, just enough. Hopefully they'll be able to go regularly to meet their less-than-human friends


	8. Someone who Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those who worked here, they're still alive, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for an exposition dump! Or rather, two exposition dumps in one chapter! Hope y'all can keep up

After the thumbs-up from their mother, and the reluctant thumbs-up from their father as well, the camping trip was a marked day on the calendar. They couldn't camp for longer than a day, though, as Harry was so kind to throw out, but with a little compromising they managed to make it 2 days; the weekends, specifically, every other weekend. One camping trip went, and so did another, all keeping to their promises, and coming back smelling awful but completely elated. Margaret was more than happy for her kids finding something to do out in the desert, but Harry still remained very suspicious of his kids and what they were doing. He knew the constructs had something to do with it, he just KNEW it! And yet, he had no proof.

After the sixth time they went off on their camping trip since it was made official, Harry watched diligently, eyeing the trail of dust with intent. Margaret noticed, and not so nice-like.

"Honey, are you still on about that?" She demanded

"Yes, yes I am,"

She groaned and rolled her eyes, "Why are you being so paranoid about it?! What is the big deal?"

"Those constructs are dangerous; possibly toxic and who knows what kind of animals live there,"

"Then why would they go there then, huh?" she reasoned back, "They aren't so dumb as to constantly endanger their lives,"

"I know that!" He turned and faced his wife, "What I don't know is what compels them to constantly go back; what is so interesting about those constructs?" He turned back, but the dust trail was gone, "Great, now I lost them!"

"There's always next time they go camping,"

"Not if you keep doing this,"

\-----------------------------

"Alright, here I come!" Scott ran and jumped, "Cannonball!!" He hit the water and splashed water on everything including his tentacled friend. He rose up out of the water coughing and spitting, "Some of it went in my mouth!! Ugh!! Tastes like everything!! What exactly are you swimming in?!"

Spy looked at him, reading "if you don't know by now you are real freaking slow." Scott picked up on this.

"Point taken," He changed the subject, "Hey! I've been practicing holding my breath! I bet I can get to your little room in one go!" Spy looked at him disbelieving, "Oh, a doubter, I see. Watch me," he slipped on the diver mask, took a deep breath, and dove under the water.

He swam powerfully, a long stretch from the first time he had first stepped into Spy's territory. He weaved his way in and out of the ruined hallways and rooms like it was the back of his hand, since this was his eighth time seeing this place he had memorized the way fairly well. Spy kept up with him the entire time, a bit impressed at Scott's ability.

But about three quarters of the way, Scott had lost all the air in his lungs. He cried out and instinctively swam upwards. Seeing this, Spy grabbed him and swam full speed the rest of the way. He surfaced, Scott taking in the air like a gift from on high. He sat down on the cold concrete, breathing like he needed to hoard the air.

"That was… fifteen meters… more… than last time. I was… almost… there," Scott gasped out. Spy hiss-grunted in approval.

Scott inhaled a bit more, letting the pain in his chest disperse and lessen. After a while, he had collected enough air to regain his composure and change his sitting position to Indian-style. He turned a bit to face his tentacled friend.

"I was this close," He pinched his fingers together to prove his point, "THIS close!"

"Non," Spy disagreed with him, "More-like… zis close," Spy used both his hands to demonstrate his point, and they were considerably much farther apart than Scott's.

"Shut up," Scott spat and reached into his large plastic baggie full of food, "Are you hungry? Mary made me way too much," Scott was a bit too eager to change the subject for his own good

Spy shook his head, "Nah. You can-eat it."

"Ok, if you say so. She does make a mean ham and cheese sandwich," he took a big bite out of said sandwich, "I don't know how she does it, but she knows just the right order to put the food. And there's always this special taste to it. Butter spritzed onto the meat? Slightly toasted bread? White over wheat? I dunno, it's only known to her. Every sandwich is different," His mouth was full of sandwich and when he talked, flecks of miscellaneous food would come flying out.

Right as he was intending, Spy's eyes grew wide and his mouth opened a bit. Scott smirked at him, and broke off a piece of his sandwich, "I thought so. Here," he handed him the sandwich, and Spy swiped it away and tore into it.

Spy chewed noisily and got the food crumbs all over his face, mask, and tank top. He got some of the food stuck on his teeth, so he tried using his tongue to tear them out. It was impossible for him to do this and not make absolutely ridiculous faces. It was all Scott could do to keep himself from bursting out in laughter, but a chuckle and a snicker escaped between the cracks.

"I'm sorry, Spy, but you look so funny," Scott laughed out, spitting more sandwich crumbs.

Spy looked confused and offended at the same time, but that expression changed to one of surprise. He smirked and replied, "Be-right-back," he did a small curtsy and dove under the water.

"Don't save any for me!" Scott called out after him, "I'm all set!"

Scott ate the last of his sandwich and brushed off his hands. He knew Spy might be gone a bit long, and he usually got bored while waiting. He directed his attention back over to the pile of Polaroid pictures in the corner. Maybe there's a few in there that he hasn't seen yet, maybe. He scooted himself over and started weeding through the pictures.

"Seen that, seen that, seen that, this one's funny, seen that, seen that, haven't seen that," He paused at the new picture. The caption read "Cake in your face 1966". A large giant of a man Spy had identified as "Heavy" had a small cake thrown at his face, and a man Spy couldn't remember held his shoulders shrugged with a ridiculous look on his face. Rather funny, mostly for that facial expression. Scott gave a laugh and moved on. "Seen, seen, seen, funny, seen, seen-- wait. What's this?"

Scott had dug through the picture pile enough to reveal something he hadn't seen before. It was a small notebook, and it appeared to have many things glued in it. He picked it up and opened it. Cards, business cards. Well, were business cards. The notebook had apparently soaked in the water long enough to lift some of the glue off and manage to loosen the ink. Some cards he was lucky to be able to make out a vowel or a number, others were hardly paper anymore. He flipped through them, past the cards, maybe a little journal entry or two in a language that wasn't English. He stopped at the thing at the end. It was another card, but it was somehow a lot less waterlogged and ruined. It was wrinkled at the worst, but it was still very legible. He studied the card carefully, reading everything he could make out. He looked back at that one picture hanging on the wall. He took it down, studied it, then put it back. He glanced to his left, his right, then slipped the notebook into his bag.

**SPLASH!!!**

"AAAAAAUGH!!!" No matter how many times he would see Spy resurface, if he resurfaces with that much ceremony, it surprises Scott clear to his bones, "Spy!!" And so he issued his complaint

Spy simply smirked and shook his prey, which so happened to be

"A drowned coyote pup?" Scott scolded, "You have no selection standards, do ya?"

"Is-runt," Spy pointed out, "No mo-ther struggle,"

Scott, knowing enough about nature and natural selection, had to admit that Spy had him there. Seeing the look on Scott's face, Spy smirked and proceeded to tear into his canine prey. Scott instinctively looked away, only bearing to listen to the sounds of bones snapping and ligaments ripping.

A few minutes later, the pup devoured and Scott ready to throw up, he decided to finished the task he came to do.

"Alright, since that's over, let's continue," he slipped the diving mask back on and stood up, "Here I COOOOOOOOME!!" He ran two steps and made to jump, but stopped himself at the last second only to slide into the water. He resurfaced, "That could've gone worse. Well, crisis avoided, let's go," he and Spy dived under the water and commenced swimming around the general area.

In the back of his mind, Scott knew he had some business to take care of, and with his new knowledge, he was going to get to it. In the meantime, though, he'd enjoy swimming around with his bud.

\--------------------

The diner was modest; clean, polished, an employee mopping the floor, a few tables dirty from the last customer, the quiet murmur of customers talking amongst themselves. This was the first time Scott drove into town by himself, and the first time he's been behind the wheel in the last year and a half. Honestly, he was shocked his parents just let him drive without anyone else with him. Just say he’s finally picked up the courage to try and apparently he’s golden.

A hostess in a pink dress and white apron greeted him, "Hello, young sir, welcome to th’ Clock Diner." Her accent suggested she grew up in a southern area, "How may Ah help y--" She gave him a good look, and her expression changed to concern, "Are you ok, honey?"

Scott's everything looked traumatized; his clothes were wrinkled from all the times he had grabbed at them, he was breathing erratically, sweating, his eyes wide and bloodshot, and he was trembling. The contents of the bag slung across his shoulder rattled. He really wasn’t as ready as he let on.

"Oh. Uh, yeah, I'm fine," He gasped out, "Just a bit scared to get behind the wheel, that's all,"

One look at his scars and the waitress felt sympathy for him, "Well, how may Ah help you?"

"Yes, a t-table for two, please,"

"Ya got a date, honey?"

"Oh no no no, I'm waiting for an old family friend. If he comes in could you direct him to me?"

She whipped out a notebook and a pen, "Describe him, please,"

"Tall, lanky guy, looks like he's been to Hell and back. Australian fellow. Uh, he's got big hands. He's real polite, that I know. He's got a bit of an underbite. I've hardly seen him without his slouch hat and sunglasses. And uh, lessee… his hair color is medium mud-brown, his eye color light blue. And his nose looks like it has been broken before,"

The waitress scribbled down the description, pen flying at impossible speeds. She finished quickly with a finale.

"Oh, and he may refer to me as Big Boy. I hate that nickname, but that's probably what he'll call me,"

She scribbled that down quickly and looked back up, "Anythin’ else?"

"Uh… no, I think that's it,"

"Alright then, follow me," She led him to a table with two opposing chairs, "Here's your seat. Our menu is on the table. Special today is our Bacon Burger with our secret Clock Sauce. Anything I can do for you?"

"Just a glass of water for now,"

"Alright," she left

Scott was still trying to calm down, but had made fantastic progress so far. His breathing was returning to normal, he was no longer sweating, trembling was reduced to nothing more than shivers, and felt better all around. He took in a deep breath, held it, and let it out. He hoped to get this over with in a timely manner.

The waitress brought him a glass of water along with a pitcher fogged from the condensation, "So you can get more if ya need to,"

"Thank you," He took a sip

He looked into his bag, made double sure he had everything. He looked into his wallet, forty five dollars. He took another sip. Keys, check, "Ok, why am I so nervous?" Scott mumbled as he ran his hands down his face. "Just gotta distract myself," He looked at the menu and browsed the various meals. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers, beverages. He checked the clock by the mini-jukebox, 3:14 and 7 seconds. His breathing became erratic.

"Good afternoon, sir," he heard the waitress greet over the chatter of the diner.

"Afternoon, ma'am," an Australian accented voice responded. 

Scott's heart skipped a beat. He grabbed the napkin dispenser and angled it to the door. In the reflection, he saw the man fitting his description, holding his slouch hat to his chest respectfully. He had the same facial structure as the man he saw in the polaroids, but he had grown a more stubbly beard and let his hair grow long.

"How may Ah help you?"

"I'm looking for Big Boy," Scott's heartbeat was all over the place, "He said to meet him here,"

"Ah, yes. He told me you were comin', honey," The man's mouth twitched upwards, "He's right over there," he saw her point right to him, and hastily put the dispenser back down, "the one with the green vest,"

"Much obliged, madam," 

Scott wasn't sure, but he thought he heard the waitress swoon.

He heard footsteps approach him, and felt the man's presence on his right side.

"Big Boy, I presume," The man's voice had lowered considerably.

"Yes," He turned to face him, "I am,"

The man's expression had changed to surprise, "A kid?" He chuckled to himself, "Come on now, your mates at school can't be all that bad,"

"I'm homeschooled, and why do you, of all people, care about that?"

The man looked off to the side, "I have standards," he mumbled out

"You throw day-old pee at people," Scott had lowered his voice slightly

The man scrunched his face, "Alright, they're low, but they're standards, dammit," the man looked angry, "Then what is it, someone look at you wrong? Forget it, I'm not here for your business," He turned to leave.

"I didn't call you here for that kind of business, Sniper for Builders League United," the man froze dead in his tracks, his stance reading shock, “the notorious Mr. Mundy, am I wrong?”

He turned around, his face equally shocked, "Wha?"

"Have a seat. You have much to explain,"

Mundy quickly sat in the opposite seat and leaned in, "Where did you hear that? And don't make me jump to conclusions I don't want to go to,"

"Then don't," Scott's answer perplexed the man, "Wait 'till after I tell you, and then you can,"

Mundy's eyebrows rose, then sank down in annoyance, "Clevah kid..."

Scott smirked, enjoying the moment, but it didn’t take long for his expression to become serious again, "Tell me, Mr. Sniper," he rummaged through his bag, "Do you recognize this?" He pulled out the weathered envelope and plopped it down in front of him.

Mundy looked horrified, picking up the letter in disbelief, "How did--?" The look on Scott's face answered his question, "A'course I do! I wrote this! I wrote this and stuck it on one of the many Keep Out signs," the man had gritted his teeth as he said the last few words

"And, are these," he pulled out the sketchbook, already opened to the page with the three monsters, "familiar in any way?" Scott leaned over his sketchbook, pose demanding.

If it was possible for a man to look so shocked and horrified, that was Mundy's expression. He held the sketchbook up to his face, not believing a thing he was seeing. He gasped in incredulousness, until it finally turned into words.

"H-holy d-Dooley..." He started shaking and dropped the sketchbook. He looked up, fearful demand in his face, "What else… do you have to show me?"

Scott gave him a quick look, and emptied the rest of the bag’s contents. Pictures; either a few select ones he got from Spy or the endless doodles the girls produced of their monsters. Mundy, looking more used to the shock, had less of an expression of utter horror and more of professional gloom. He shifted through them all, then put his head on the table, letting out a big sigh. After a moment, his head shot back up, expression shooting daggers at the boy. Scott recoiled a bit.

"Why?" His voice just as poisonous as his expression

"W-why what?" Scott's voice was small and timid

"You called me here for an explanation, yeah?" Scott nodded feebly, "I'll give one to ya, but first YOU explain! What the hell are you doing out in the middle of hot, dry nowhere pokin’ your nose where it don’t belong?!" Sniper's intense whispering gave the two of them wayward looks from the customers around them.

"Uh..." The two snapped their heads to the voice. The waitress was standing next to them with her notebook, "Is everything alright here?"

"Y-yeah, we're fine," Scott answered

"W-would you boys like to start out with an appetizer?"

"We'll take some chili fries,"

"Ok, they'll be out in a second," She walked away

A moment of awkward silence between the two of them, long enough for Sniper to calm down a bit.

"Alright, where should I begin?"

"The beginning, if you don't mind," Mundy was running his fingers through his hair in exasperation.

"Ok then," Scott paused. He didn't need to think this one through, but it's painful to relate it all all over again, "I'm a Chicagoan by blood, and I truly mean that. Both sides of my family have been born at least two generations deep in Chicago. And so, all we've ever known, almost literally, involved that city,"

"Ok, a city boy," he realized this explanation might be a bit too personal for his tastes, "Go on,"

"I guess I should skip a bit ahead. My youngest sister-- the one who drew these--" he pointed at doodles of Mary and her Scoot, "is almost blind. She was born 20/20, but when she was three, she was kicked in the back of the head by a baby mule. It wasn't enough to kill her, but she was knocked out. She was rushed to the hospital where they saw that her vision was now impaired. Due to her age, the doctors weren't able to restore her sight as much as they were able, but they got as much as they could while not pushing it too far. She regained her sight, but not by much. She has to wear these incredibly thick glasses," Scott pinched his fingers together for emphasis, "and they make her eyes look really big. When she got into kindergarten, it was a source of ridicule for her. Sometimes it was so bad she came home crying. There's one,"

"One what?"

"You'll see," His voice broke, "Mr. Sniper, please understand, this next part is very hard for me to tell, so bear with me,"

The man looked concerned, "Look, lad, you don't haveta tell m--"

"Yes, I do," Scott interrupted, "About a year ag-- two almost now, actually-- I was sixteen. Newly sixteen too. And sixteen means drivers license, and that's exactly what I had. I was overjoyed that day, passed the exam first time through no problem. God, back then I was so different: more extroverted, happy. I felt more... whole," Scott paused and took a deep breath, "My other sister, second oldest child, she was different too. Ever since I got my license, she made me drive her to her friends' places or wherever they were meeting. Not that I minded, I loved driving then. Up until..." Scott clenched his fists, breathing speeding up and visibly shaking.

"L-lad?"

A basket of steaming, greasy fries were placed in front of them, a small bowl of chili included for dipping, "Is water still ok?" The waitress asked.

"Oh; uh, yeah," Sniper answered for them both

"I'll give you two some more time," She gave a quick look at the the quaking boy and walked off.

"Are you alright?" Sniper asked when it was just them again

"Yeah, it's just hard. I'm good," He pinched the bridge of his nose, "It was after school, and I was gonna drop Anna off at her friend's place before heading home myself. She was sitting shotgun. I had my license for little more than two weeks, so I was following the law down to the teeth," Scott grabbed a fry and shoved it his mouth to try and keep him from outright crying, "The light was green, I had the right of way. Was the only one in the intersection besides a little ten year old girl crossing the street with her mom parallel to us," He bit his lip to keep the tears back, "a driver… passed out at the wheel… forwent his red light and..." He paused, "slammed into us,"

Sniper's eyebrows rose, the fry he was chewing on falling out of his mouth. Scott put his head on the table encircled by his arms, shaking terribly. He took a moment to collect himself, then lifted his head up to face the assassin. His eyes held tears.

"It all happened so fast, and yet so slow. I recall turning my head in time to see the filthy green truck careening to us and me yelling out. It hit on her side. She was positioned just so that it didn't kill her, but she was sandwiched between the metal of our car with the metal of his truck. I got all the glass; see?" He pointed to his big scar across his neck, "This one almost killed me. I have them all over my upper body." He pulled up his right jacket sleeve, revealing an arm riddled with deep and shallow scars. Sniper lowered his eyes a little and grabbed more fries. "The impact had enough force to send my small, lightweight car careening into… that little girl and her mother..." A tear escaped and landed on the menu, "it lasted forever, but I was told it was no longer than five seconds until everything settled. I had closed my eyes during a lot of the impact, and that explains why this little sliver didn't take out my right eye," He pointed to the teeny scar across his cheek, "I opened my eyes, found my entire upper body and left arm in terrible pain, and saw my sister lying motionless, sandwiched between metal. I thought she was dead," He put emphasis on the word by curling a hand into a fist, "I heard screaming; bloodcurdling, horrified, screaming. It was screaming 'Anna! Anna! No! No! No, Anna!!' It took a while to dawn on me that I was the one screaming. I remember trying my hardest to unbuckle the seatbelt, but my hand wouldn't respond to my attempts to move. And whenever I moved, I was greeted with cutting pain all over me." Scott looked to the side in painful recollection, "I heard more screaming. I looked to find it; it was the little girl. She was pinned under the car, screaming for help. 'Help! Help me! Mommy!!' Her mom was dead, her head liberated from her neck. It was two feet away.

“The scene before me was… Without my own consent, I began screaming. Just screaming. Screaming and crying. No words, just screaming," Scott paused, tears flowing freely

"Kid, you don't have to tell me this," the man sounded genuinely concerned

"You asked for an explanation, and I am determined to tell it. Besides, I can’t start anywhere else and not seem like it’s missing some info," He sighed before he continued, "I was losing blood quickly, and screaming at the top of my lungs wasn't a good idea since I had two pieces of glass in my neck. Everything else after that was a blur. I don't remember being dragged out of the wreck, or the little girl being freed from my car, but I do remember the helicopter taking off as the ambulance doors closed around me. I know now I wasn't alone back there, EMTs n' whatnot, but I felt… so alone. Like I was the loneliest person on the planet. I felt even God abandoned me... 

“We arrived at the hospital, and they meticulously took out every piece of glass in me and stitched the skin back together, and set my arm before putting it in a cast. It… I remember Mom and Mary and even Dad coming in bawling their eyes out, but having to be held back so to not rip the stitches. Mary, bless her heart, was kicking and screaming to give me a hug, and she eventually wrestled herself free and gave me a big bear hug. It hurt so bad, but her crying… So broken, so traumatized, I couldn't push her away." He chuckled, humourless, "She ripped two stitches." Scott was staring at the mostly empty fry basket, eyes glazed with tears, "I had begged them to tell me about Anna, but they wouldn't at first. I kept at it until they gave in; she was in a coma. I was relieved and scared at the same time. I had assumed she was dead back on the scene, but she could still die.

“I was going to be kept overnight to be sure I really was fine. I didn’t stay in my room. I snuck out, found where Anna was kept, sat in the visitor chair as comfortably as I could, and spent the next few hours in there. I was found and escorted back. I was sent home the next afternoon,"

Sniper was about to say something when the waitress came up, "Are you two ready to order?"

"Uh..." Was Sniper's first answer

"I'll have an Everything Burger with a side of mixed greens please,"

"Sir?" She asked the assassin

"J-just a chicken cranberry salad, no ranch," 

She scribbled down the order, "Water still ok?"

"For me, yes," Sniper answered

"I'll have a small strawberry shake, please," 

"Alright, it'll be out momentarily," she took the almost empty basket of fries and left

They continued where they left off, "She woke up eventually, I take it?"

"Yeah, but she was so different. Brain damage. The doctors were surprised she didn't have more than she did; does. She has a speech impediment, her fine motor control is limited, she acts like she's nine, and so is her curiosity. She'll forget the most obvious things and then remember them later. The one thing that remained intact was her bratty behavior," he sighed, "She's also terribly scarred. The one on her head is huge, nauseating when you see it for the first few times. When she and I finally went back to school, we... weren't treated nice at all. The teachers had some sympathy, but my schoolmates… I was looked at with contempt, like the crash was my fault and not that other dead driver's--"

"He died, eh?"

"Yeah, the crash killed him instantly. Not many people survive their head getting split open like a melon,"

"What about the little girl?"

Scott looked down, "She didn't make it,"

"Ah,"

Scott took a deep breath before he continued, "All of Anna's old friends left her. They didn't support her at all, their excuse being she was 'weird now.' I got so mad at them that first day Anna came home crying that I kicked a hole in the apartment wall," Scott's hands balled up into fists again, but he quickly recollected himself and relaxed, "This behavior went on. Everyone except my buddy Charlie thought I was a horrible person, and Anna was pushed back down to fourth grade and totally isolated and prodded at. For me, it got so bad that I once came home with a black eye, bloody nose, and a broken finger when the school bullies tried to 'bring me to justice.' With all four of us being bullied, we moved away. We chose somewhere where it was far away from those terrible people."

"Wait," Sniper exclaimed, "You said four. If I recall right, it's you, your brain damaged sister, and your almost blind sister,"

"It is, but dad got his fair share of bullies. We made decent money with dad's job at that car dealership, but he was constantly looked down on. He’s got a mental condition, and I’m sure you know how well that’s treated. When the crash happened, it got worse for him. With that, we moved out here. Far out here. Our house isn't even in the suburbs of the city," he leaned in and snagged a fry, "Sniper, do you know this place? Is this town familiar?"

"Yes, I do," Sniper answered, "It's the bum town we passed to get to the 2fort missions. We've passed it plenty of times." Sniper took a drink of water.

"We live in the old shack about five miles away from 2fort."

The assassin almost did a spit take, "In that?! Why?!"

"Well, we remodeled it, so it's like new again. And it has a well, don't'cha know? We're almost completely self-sufficient, away from people,"

"Shattered trust, eh?"

"Yeah..." the boy sighed out, "When we moved in, Dad got me and we went out to 2fort, aka ‘the constructs,’ to see what the deal was with this place. It was at night too, so 2fort looked creepier than normal. This is when I found your letter. When I read it when we got back, I know it's a warning, but it just made me curious."

"I must be terrible at writing warnings,"

"I was intending on going to explore that place alone, but Anna got it out of me so I had to take her with me, and Mary stowed away. Mary strayed first, and she came across him," he pointed to his little sister’s sketch of the vent dwelling creature, "and she calls him Scoot,"

"She does?" Sniper let out a chuckle, "Sorry, go on,"

"Anyway… Anna snuck off because I was being too 'bossy' and she really wanted to explore the sewer for some reason. She came across him," He pointed to her respective monster, "She calls him Doc,"

"Fitting,"

"I had my nose buried in a map I found, mostly why I didn’t notice them run off, and I had wandered into the flooded BLU base. It took my foot having to plunge into the icy water for me to realize there even was water. Because of my foot disturbing the water, I summoned him," he pointed to the Spy sketch, "He says to call him Spy, since it's the only name he remembers,"

"Yep, that's his codename, alright. Doesn't remember his own name, I see,"

"Remembers you, most of the other guys, but not his name."

"Strange. I thought if anything, the name stays intact. Apparently not,"

"Not only that, he remembers his native tongue. I've heard him say some stuff in French, most of the time swears."

"Yeah, he did that a lot,"

"So, what happened there?" Scott's sudden question startled Sniper, "Why did everyone flee the scene?"

Sniper thought for a moment, "I can't start at that point and make everything clear,"

"Then start wherever you need to, like I did,"

The man paused, "God, by how much answer you gave my angry demand, I feel like I need to tell you everything,"

"Don’t, you can just tell me what the sequence of events that made these three and caused everyone to leave and I’d be happy. I get the impression your everything would take more than a few hours to explain,"

Sniper paused again, thinking over what he had to tell, "Alright, sounds good to me. But ya gotta give me a moment to figure out where exactly to start,"

“Take your time,”

While the assassin was pondering, a large burger was placed in front of Scott,

"A burger with mixed greens for you, and a strawberry shake," She placed the oblong shake glass filled with pink down on the table, "and a chicken cranberry salad," she put the salad in front of Sniper, "Is everything ok here?"

"Yeah, we're good," Scott dismissed her, "Thank you,"

She walked off. Scott picked up his burger and proceeded to take hefty bites.

"Alright," Sniper fiddled with his salad, "I was one of nine mercenaries working for RED, not BLU. We were fighting… clones of ourselves." The shocked look on Scott's face led him to explain, "The technology we had access to was so far beyond our era. We had a Respawn system, where you can die and come back. Our Medics had healing beams, our Spies had cloaking devices, our Engineers had… so many futuristic machines. So impossibly advanced I think there had to be some black magic involved. But that's besides the point.

“The BLU Medic was first to disappear. After taking a rather nasty blow to the head, he fell down into the sewer pool and should have died, but didn't. Their Respawner malfunctioned, and didn't summon him back to the base. He had slipped below the radar. I don't know if the BLUs did anything about it, but combat continued anyway. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned into months; still no sign of the BLU Medic. Even when we switched out bases he was unaccounted for. Three months, and our Scout was knocked into the sewers. He was gone for about two hours. When he finally came back, it was because he Respawned. He came back screaming. We found him hiding in his cubby after combat ended for the day, sweating and trembling. He kept mumbling to himself, and wouldn't let our Medic near ‘im. He couldn't sleep, and he refused to work for two days. When our Administrator yelled at him enough to get him working, it happened again; he fell back into the sewers. He was back quicker this time, in fetal position. He refused to leave the Respawn room."

Scott finished his mouthful of burger and spoke, "I can relate to that level of paranoia. For at least two weeks after the crash, I couldn't ride in a car without being a backseat driver or eventually ending up screaming at any car that passed us,"

Sniper shoved a forkful of salad in his mouth, "After about a day or so of staying in the same room, he had disappeared. We eventually found out he had crawled into the ducts."

"How'd you find that out?"

"I saw him try to crawl out in my side vision, but when I turned to face him, he slunk back in. I called for him, and he answered. That's how. I asked him why he was in there; all he said was that he felt safe. I assume it's because you can feel the walls around you and no one can really sneak up on you,"

"That paranoia, I can't relate with,"

"We gave him blankets and food, since any attempt to get him out was fruitless." Sniper lowered his head, his fork playing with the salad, "Understand lad, Scout and I had sort of a… surrogate father/son relationship. He had a lot of father figures, honestly; looked up to the lot of us. Engie, Medic, Heavy, Solly… me. He was annoyin’ as hell at first, constantly pushing my buttons, but... he had a calm, tranquil side to him, amiable. He would ask me to play some card games with him, teach him how to use my rifle or bow, or just to sit down and have a conversation with me. Like I said, it was a bit annoying for me in the beginning, hit a tender spot I wasn't so sure on," He paused and sighed, "It's a... closet desire of mine to raise one of my own. I've always liked kids, and his memories stated he hardly grew up with a father figure at all. His older brothers almost were, but he was still wanting someone to fill the ‘father’ role. He and I didn't hit off so well at first, mostly my own fault, but after that one time when he got that nasty flu, we grew a bond. No one else either cared or had the time to at least ask how he was. I brought him some soup once, then I was branded as his nanny," he chuckled, "I was worried for him, I admit. I didn't think it was safe in those ducts at all. Maybe no one could sneak up on him, but the ducts were expelling a gross chemically smell,"

"None of you guys choked?" 

"No, everything's aired. We had windows in almost every room. Eventually he was hardly seen from again. We'd place the food in front of the vent, turn our backs on it, and when we'd look again it'll be gone."

"Did any of you watch it long enough?"

"The longest food stare record was made by our Demoman. He said he saw Scout, but he wasn't Scout at the same time. We didn't believe him, of course, Demo was a drunk. He could've just been seeing things through beer goggles." Sniper continued, "About two months after Demo claims to see a beastly Scout, there were multiple massive explosions, a lot of it from the bowels of the base. The explosions sent out hazardous gasses that hung around 2fort. The Sewer expelled it, the vents expelled it, and so did everything connected to 'em. We had to leave. In the blast, the ones that hired us were visiting, seeing how we were doing, and they were killed; we no longer were working for ‘em. We attempted to get Scout out of the vent, and our Pyro volunteered to do it, since she was the one with the gas mask,"

Scott knew instantly who he was talking about,

"She was gone for about fifteen minutes, when she Respawned, looking quite shaken. She took off her mask partway and told us that Demo wasn't lying when he said Scout wasn't Scout anymore. He... wasn't going anywhere," Sniper looked a bit grieved, but his expression quickly steeled, "We all left the grounds, all accounted for, except for BLU Medic, RED Scout... and BLU Spy. Everyone else and their clones were safe. No one wanted to go see what happened to BLU Spy, he was the clone. He had no one, made for a single purpose and that purpose no longer existed, may as well die. RED Medic and BLU Scout also were the real deal. With no one else daring to go get BLU Spy, and even though I didn't particularly like that specific spook, I went in after him. The BLUs had warned me that the explosion had ruptured their water lines, and plugged up all the holes that would normally drain water out, so the building was flooding fast. It didn't deter me. I searched that building for that spook, and I found him. He was laying on his side and bleeding, his legs were shredded. I tried my best to get him out, but he kept screaming at me to get out and leave him… I persisted until he pointed his gun at me and threatened to do me in. So I left him."

"So that's that?" Scott was finishing the last of his burger and sipping at his shake

"Not quite. After this final incident, and after our final automatic payments, we went on our ways."

"What happened to the clones?"

"They gave us their pay and... offed themselves," he choked on the phrase

Scott choked on his last piece of burger at this, "They WHAT?!"

"Our clones knew they were clones and knew it wouldn't be good to have two of each face walking around, let alone mercenaries. W-They were created for the sole purpose of fighting that stupid, useless war,"

Scott was silent as he finished the last of his shake. He wanted to know more now, really bad. But what would he do? Ask more of the assassin? He never asked for much in way of explanation in the first place, and then to beg a man that has killed more people than he has ever met to tell him more? Sniper has already been so patient with him, best not to test it any further.

He waited a beat, and with a sigh he stood up, "Thank you for your time," he took out his wallet, leafing through his savings, "Here's your payment," he placed the forty five dollars on the table. "Use this for the bill and gas it took to get here," He extended his hand for a handshake.

This took the assassin by surprise, "That's it?"

"That's it," Scott didn't move, "That's all I wanted to know,"

“But, lad, I--” He stopped himself. The boy had a point; what more was there to say? Questions were answered, and his place was not to ask more than what was needed.

The assassin sat there for a moment, then sighed and stood to shake the boy’s hand, his large hand dwarfing Scott's own.

"And, I'm sorry for your loss,"

"All part of the hidden nasties of my trade," the man answered, "and it is me who should be giving condolences. Good luck going home,"

"Thank you," They released the handshake, stood for a moment, before Scott turned and walked away with his bag.

"Is everything ok, honey?" The waitress stopped him and asked

"Yes, everything's fine. I have to go, curfew n’ whatnot. He's going to pay for the bill, I already gave him some money to cover my part,"

"Ok. You have a good day now,"

"Thank you," 

He walked out the door, found the powder blue Buick, started it up, and, shaking in his boots, drove off towards the suburbs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This... Sniper we've met, something seems off, yeh? A bit out of character? There's a very good reason for that, but you'll just have to wait 'fore I reveal why


	9. Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And things were looking so good too

After he passed the last of the suburban homes, Scott relaxed a tad and drove a little faster. From here on out it's very unlikely that he'll encounter another car coming his way. He drove the twenty miles in dirt road silence, trying to mull over what the assassin told him. The shaking road and dirt cloud through the setting sun made it hard for him to focus. Coupled with his paranoia, his thoughts were not on the assassin's words

 _/Oh well,/_ he thought to himself, _/at least I'll go home to a nice, quiet house and then I'll think it over,/_ and, frankly, he would be very happy with that. The welcoming building came into view. Ah, yes-- Hey!

There's a VW Bus parked at the house.

He sped up slightly, hoping to get a better view and tell him this isn't what he thought it was. Unfortunately, it was.

Scott groaned and parked the car. He began to walk up to the front door. Maybe they, more importantly HE, wouldn't see him walk in.

Nope.

***Click***

"Scotty!!" A husky-framed figure grabbed Scott and wrestled him into a headlock, "There you are, Scotty-Wotty-Potty!! I haven't seen you in a while,"

Scott struggled against the headlock, and thanks to his new swimmer strength, he was able to get out fairly quick. He backed away quickly; at least that man didn't smell too strongly like the crowd he hung out with, meaning he actually kept up his personal hygiene.

His Uncle Mike stood in front of him, wearing the latest hippie fashion, with arms spread wide open. His long chocolate hair running down past his shoulders, wearing a green headband. His tacky blue vest and bell bottoms adorned with bright red flowers clashed harshly. His purple shades made his deep green eyes a gross grey-brown. The rest of the family was sitting on the couch in the family room.

"H-hello, Uncle Mike," the boy spat. He didn't really like his uncle, "and would you PLEASE stop calling me that? I've been toilet-trained for twelve years now,"

"Aw, but it makes me think of you when you were younger! When you would do this," Mike grabbed his crotch and demonstrated Scott's old potty dance. Everyone burst into laughter. It was grating.

"Oh sure," Scott had snapped, "I overcome my fear of driving for the first time in forever, and I come home to a guy I don't even like!" There was no stopping the venting, "I'm still shaking, I have a lot on my mind, and I want to be left alone. Why do you think I don't like you, Mike?! For one, you're a perfectly respectable man and you hang around junkies! I wonder if those damn dirty ‘peace lovers’ are starting to rub off on you. I bet you got yourself a stash of the ‘good stuff’ in your Hippie-mobile, waiting to spread your bad influence on our impressionable little minds! And the other, you constantly embarrass me! I’m not a puffy faced, chubby kid anymore, so stop treating me like I am!" Scott finally calmed down enough to stop, but the damage had been done. The look on his uncle's face cut into the boy deeper than it should've, "J-just leave me alone," He trudged upstairs, slammed his door, and flopped onto the bed.

He laid on his bed motionless for about five minutes, thoughts whirring. He had finally vented his feelings about his uncle to him, and from past experience and stories told by his father, his uncle was very sensitive. He instantly regretted saying those things.

He wanted to go "camping" now. Not until another week though. Crap...

_Knock Knock_

"Go away. Let me wallow," Scott answered

The door opened. His mother stood there, poker faced, "Honey, do you have anything to say to your uncle?"

"Didn't you hear me? I said everything I've ever wanted to say," Scott really wanted to go camping now.

"But that wasn't nice,"

"It's true, admit it,"

"He can be whoever he wants to be. You don't see me stopping you with anything you do,"

"Why is he even here?" Scott asked sternly, fingers curled, “Last I checked it’s the middle of nowhere,”

She sighed and sat on the bed near her son, "He's going back to school, and he's been accepted to the local college; he wants to be a part of his nieces and nephew’s lives. He called us up, telling us the news. He was going to rent an apartment, but I told him he could stay here. He's finding a job in town,"

Scott groaned, "Why did you tell him he could stay here? It makes such little sense I don’t know where to start,"

"He's a source of positive energy, so I thought it would have a positive effect on you and Anna. Mary's a sunflower, so she and him would get along well enough,"

"Ok, fine, but why is he HERE? Doesn't he have a riot to go to in the big city?"

"Scott Fenrir," Margaret scolded, "He wants to be different, and that's ok. You're the most different out of all of us--"

"No, that's Anna,"

"Don't you interrupt me! I didn't raise you to judge like that! We're lucky he doesn't ruin his body by participating in all that smoking,"

"He was once a drunkard,"

"And that was a long time ago," his mother’s face was definitely angry. Scott inched away from her, "You go down there and you apologize to your uncle... when you're ready,"

Leaving Scott surprised, Margaret got up and left.

After ten minutes of stewing, Scott got up and did just that.

\----------------------

After about a week, Mike had found a modest job working in a laundromat and was now just waiting for the school year to start. Also, around that time the television and cable stopped working. 

"Well, consarn it," Uncle Mike had said after the Boston baseball game had turned itself off and wouldn't turn back on.

Harry called in a technician, a wiry guy with a high widow's peak, to assess the situation. It was a hot and humid day that day, complete with leaden clouds. The forecast predicted heavy rainfall.

The kids were in Scott's room, conversing about the usual stuff they talked about. Margaret leaned against the closed door at one point, and caught the words "still there. They're still here!" Followed by gasps and excited giggles. Nothing unusual.

She smiled and knocked, "Alright, kiddos, time for dinner," The door opened quickly, and the three happy youths clambered down the stairs.

"... Fenrir?" They caught the little pieces of the technician's and their father's conversation, "As in Scott Fenrir?"

"Yes, that's my son," Harry tone was wary.

The tech, hearing the three bound down the stairs, turned to face the threesome. His face lit up in realization, "Oh yeah! You guys!"

"You recognize us?" Margaret asked with a tone of worry

"Yeah! You, kid with the glasses," Mary directed her attention to the technician, "My niece was in your class! You remember Jane Harper, right?" Mary's face contorted to horror, "What did she call you? Uhh… Mary Hoot Hoot? Seemed to be really funny to her," Tears formed at the corner of her eyes, "And you, yes you," He pointed right at Scott, tone very dark, "You ran into my cousin’s friend and her daughter. Killed ‘em both, y'know? Not only that, your sister's damaged. I'm surprised you're not in jail--"

"Get out of my house," Harry was seething.

"Wh-what?" The technician was surprised

"Get out," He was ready to rip that man to shreds

"But you haven't paid me!"

"Nobody insults my kids and gets paid. Get out," Harry grabbed the tech's garb and brought him close to his face.

"Not until you pay me, you bastard!"

That fanned the flames, _"GET OUT NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE!!"_

Terrified, the technician tore free and ran back to his car, screaming, "I'm taking this to court! This isn't the last of it!" He tore down the road, Harry standing at the open doorway huffing angrily.

"Honey… wow," Margaret replied shakily to her husband, "I don't know what to say to that,"

Harry calmed down enough to reply, "All we can do now is comfort the kids," he looked up, "Where'd they go?"

The familiar engine started. Harry ran outside just in time to see his three kids peeling off in the golf cart into the desert. He called out to them and took off after it, but they were going too fast; no making them turn around.

Margaret grabbed her husband, "Honey! Let them go vent! They'll be fine," They both slowed to a stop, "Insults at that caliber aren't something you can talk about and fix. Let them cry it out,"

Harry watched the dirt cloud slowly shrink. He slumped his shoulders. "Y-yeah. Let them cry it out." He ran his fingers through his hair, "Now we've got a lawsuit to deal with..."

"Come inside honey. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it,"

\---------------

Scott drove quickly, hearing the sound of his crying and of his two sisters. A drop of water hit him on the nose, then another, and another. It was beginning to rain, and rain fairly hard it seemed.

Tears blurring their vision, they arrived at 2fort. Scott took the key out of the ignition and everyone hopped out of the cart. They crawled either over or under the fence and ran towards the familiar places.

\--------------------

Mary ran into the RED base, tripped once, and got back up. She passed a few animals seeking shelter, but they all ran from her sight.

She ran into the familiar room, and upon seeing the open grate, she yelled, "SCOOT!!" She tripped on the chair again and fell flat on her face. She didn't get up; she instead stayed splayed on the floor, sobbing and weeping loudly. Her glasses had been knocked off and had been thrown a little ways away.

_Takity takity takity clang clank_

The familiar sounds were heard, rushing on and having no respect for silence. Mary saw a white, black, and red blob emerge from the vent, hissing slightly from the light. She didn't need glasses to see who it was.

"Scoot..." She tried to get up, but she lacked the willpower. She only got as far as to sit on her haunches

The blob moved over a bit, picked something up, actually moved out of the vent, and approached her. He got clearer when he got closer, and what he was holding. He outstretched the glasses to her; she took them gingerly and put them on. 

She had never seen Scoot's face so concerned. He brought a claw to her face. Mary didn't flinch as he wiped a tear away. Overcome with emotion, she flung herself into his arms, almost knocking him over.

"Scootey!!!" She sobbed out, "The mean man called me Mary Hoot Hoot!!" She was wailing quite loudly, "He hurt my brother and sister too, saying he should be in jail,” she sniffled loudly, “and that she was broken,"

Once he had regained his posture, Scoot held the weeping girl tight. He let her cry all over his shirt.

"Ma-ry," he growled slowly and quietly, and that was all he said.

"I don't wanna be out here," she sobbed out, barely audible, "please, take me back there," 

He obeyed. He carried her back into the vent, wound through the metal passage, and placed her down on the blankets. She collapsed onto the soft floor and continued to weep.

\-----------------

Anna stumbled down the ladder. She was as graceful as a dizzy man, and she fell off on the fourth rung down. She landed splat into the shallow water, hurting her back. She hastened and was soon running through the dark sewer.

"Doc!" Tears blurred her vision, "Doc! Doc, where are you?!" She was running at full clip into the sewer, doing the same thing as the first time she was in here: turning this way and that, getting more and more lost.

Over the sound of her feet splashing in the water, she heard an unnatural sound, like an animal’s cry. Before she could react, a blur came out of a turn, ran in front of her, and stopped her. Inertia sent her shoulders and neck forward, made her stomach flop, and her head throw down.

"Anna," The familiar need-to-cough voice was concerned, "What iz-wrong?"

Anna kept looking down, seeing only his torn pants and his scarred and clawed feet. The hurtful words of the tech replayed in her head, giving her a harsh dose of remorse. She lunged forward into Doc's chest, gripping it tightly. Doc stumbled and flinched from such, but quickly regained his balance. He could feel Anna's convulsing sobs, hear her wails, and feel the warm sensation of tears on his coat.

"Oh Doc," She managed to say, "am I broken? Am I ruined? Tell me!" Her "me" faded into a loud wail

Doc didn't need to know the situation to tell she needed comfort. He shifted around a bit, so Anna was by his side and he was supporting her. He walked her forward, his little hovel his destination.

Anna was mostly silent, but she did say one thing before hardly saying anything else.

"You smell awful..."

\----------------

Scott's vision was blurred by tears and raindrops. He saw the basic shape of the BLU base and the dark blot of the opening, but he miscalculated how much dry area there was before the water started. Before he could stop himself, he had run straight into the water and was completely soaked. He was in a shallow part of the water, so he could sit on his haunches and be above the pool. He sat there, crying.

A familiar appendage wrapped itself around his arm and tugged a bit, sending him back into the water.

"Wah-- Scott?!" The hissy voice sounded quite surprised. He lifted Scott back up, "What are you-doing here?" the boy didn't answer. He kept his soaking wet head down, sobbing quietly. That somewhat answered Spy's question, "Scott, what is-wrong?"

Scott's chest swelled and he let out a loud wail. "I ruined my sister! I damaged her! I killed three people! I did it! I ran into that guy!" He spewed the lies that he had tried so hard to counteract, he couldn't stop them, "It's my fault, my fault..." He hung his head in shame, tears dropping into the pool.

Spy knew a little about what Scott was talking about. Three trips back he had asked about the scars. The boy was reluctant to share such a thing, but gave Spy a watered-down version of why. He never mentioned anyone dying. It made more sense now, though. Besides the PTSD and brain-damaged sister, other people had died from the crash; he had the deaths of others weighing on his mind.

"How-how is anyone that numb?" Scott mumbled out, "Why would anyone that casually bring up my horrible mistake? And tell me I should be IN JAIL?!" His fingers were curled in front of him, "It's not like I LIKE being told I brutally murdered three people!"

There was a small silence other than the sound of pounding rain and dripping water. The two sat there in the shallow water, Scott crying quietly and Spy listening. It was a while before the silence was broken.

"Scott," Spy's tone was firm, "You are-not at fault! Stop-lying-to yourself, s'il vous plaît!" 

Scott looked up at his friend; his face was just as firm. Spy wasn't taking this crap, "But--"

"No!" Spy interrupted him, "You are-victim! No lying!" He pointed a clawed finger at him.

Scott stared at him for a moment, then looked back down at the water. "I-I… you're right. It's just… everyone thinks it's my fault. I guess I was starting to believe it..."

Spy was silent; what could he say?

\----------------------

The trio came back about an hour and a half later, soaked and dirty, a bit downtrodden, but looked relieved. Mike was the first to greet them, embracing them three in a big bear hug. It was awkward, but sweet. After such, Margaret ordered a shower for all four.

The kids chugged upstairs to try and claim the upstairs bathroom. Mary actually managed to grab it first. Scott wandered into his room and stripped his outer clothes, leaving him with just his boxers and tank undershirt. He jumped onto his bed, sending dirt flying from out of it. Man, he needed to wash these sheets.

He heard the water going in the bathroom, but it was nothing but background noise. He reflected on that certain day almost two years ago, that one spot in his stomach swelling in painful recollection. Considering he had recently opened that wound again after all this time, it hurt considerably more than it would've otherwise.

Ten minutes passed, and he heard the water shut off. He didn't move; Anna or whoever could have the next turn. Nobody to stop him as he thought up a landslide in the water.

Despite himself, and having been months since he last did so, he began a conversation with himself.

"I dunno," He said only to the space around him, "I know it wasn't my fault it all happened, but still, if everyone says it was you, you tend to start believing it." He inhaled deeply, and let out a big sigh, "All the evidence showing I was not at fault at all, and I still at times feel like it's my fault..." He ran his fingers through his hair and groaned loudly, "WHY?!?" He yelled, "What was the purpose of that crash happening?! I leave my home to come here, where there's nothing to do but camp and do homework!!" He stopped and just lay quiet. He felt rising pressure in his chest and his eyes beginning to sting, but no tears came. They were gone.

Scott heard steps running up the stairs, and braced for the door to fly open. It did, and there stood his father.

"Son?"

He rolled over, away from the man, "Go away, I wanna be alone,"

"You're room's a mess," His father mentioned nonchalantly, "and you stink,"

"What's the point in telling me that?"

"Nothing, other than you need to clean your room. And," Scott felt a weight displace the bed, "we can hear you down there,"

"I don't care," He snatched a pillow and covered his head with it.

"I care, and so does your mom and uncle. I'm worried about you,"

"Nothing new, now go away," Scott's voice broke

"Tone, and I know it's nothing new. I'm still your father and I still care about how… It… makes you feel,"

Scott was silent, mentally begging the man to just up and walk away.

"And, I don't know if you heard it, but now I have a lawsuit to go up against," He paused for Scott to say something, but got no response out of the silent boy. He continued, "That jerk's gonna send me to court for my little escapade--"

"That word doesn't mean what you think it means," Scott droned out

Harry was silent, then continued, "Ok then, me defending you three. What do you have to say about that?"

"Why are you asking me? Ask your hippie brother,"

"I already did; he's mad about it,"

Scott was silent for a moment, then spoke up again, "Dad, I want to be left alone. You weren't actually in the crash; you never saw your sister lying between metal motionless. You didn't go through all those glares and rude gestures and promises of justice. You weren’t beat within an inch of your life. You just saw me in stitches and Anna laying there in that coma. I have been told over and over that the crash was my fault, and I almost believe it. You know that. You don't know how I feel, so leave me to my pain, please," he didn't move his head from the coverings of the pillow

Harry sat for a moment, then sighed deeply, "Alright. Come downstairs after you shower," he got up from the bed and walked out.

After a few minutes of laying there in silence, he heard the water turn off. Scott didn't respond at first, but slowly got up, grabbed fresh clothes, and walked to the bathroom.

\--------------

The lawsuit was filed about a week later and Harry was called to court. He was back in five hours, saying the court ruled in his favor, but had to pay the tech a quarter of what he owed him. Everyone was happy about that, but Uncle Mike was overjoyed. When Harry delivered the news, Mike threw himself onto his brother in a big hippie hug. Scott had to admit to himself (for the first time) he was growing fond of the man and his uplifting antics.

"So what now?" Mary asked, not understanding court stuff

"Nothing. It's over," Her father answered, "I won,"

"Do you get a prize?"

He laughed, "My prize is not getting sued,"

"Ok,"

"Dad, can we go now? We're late," Scott asked at last. It was their camping day today, but the three of them decided to stay over until their dad got back, curious of the way the trial was leaning.

"Not yet," Their father answered with a smirk

"Why? We did all our homework,"

"I'm coming with, that's why. I still need to pack," his eyes held a devious light

This took the three kids by surprise, terrible surprise. The same electrifying, hot shock went through each of them.

"What's with the expressions, kiddos? Hiding something?" Harry smirked even broader

"N-no! Nothing!" Scott was still terrible at lying

"Then this shouldn't be a problem,"

"Why are you standing like that?" Anna inquired of her father's gloating stance, "You're acting like we're drug dealers and you're about to expose us," Anna's vocabulary had improved greatly

"Oh, no reason at all. After all, only those who have something to hide should be scared,"

"What are you imply-ing?!" She spat back, "That we're doing evil spells deep in the desert?! A little un-logic-cal, if you ask me,"

Harry backed up for a second; she had a point. He softened his gaze and stance, "I'm still coming with, you know. If that was some attempt to shake me, it didn't work." Harry clapped his hands, "Well, off to pack mai baigs," he drawled out

He walked off to the right, into his bedroom, and closed the door. He left the rest of them in silence.

"DO you have anything to hide?" Margaret asked, arms crossed

"Don't tell me you share his paranoia,” Scott groaned, "what does he think we're doing out there anyway?” She was silent, "There," Scott spat and walked calmly upstairs, two sisters following close behind. It wasn't until they closed the door on Mary's room did they start to panic. Anna was the first to express her fear.

"Oh no," She gasped out, "Not good not good not good..."

"Calm down, Anna," her brother answered, "I'm getting an idea on how we can shake him,"

"Then tell me; tell us both," Her voice was trembling just as hard as her frame

"We'll tell him the truth,"

Both Anna and Mary looked startled to the ends of the earth.

"What?! We tell dad abuh--" Anna caught herself yelling and changed her pitch to a whisper, "about Scoot, Doc, and Spy?"

"No, of course not. In case you guys didn't notice, dad thinks we keep going to 2fort, but he doesn't know the reasoning. I'm thinking we admit going to 2fort, but don't call it that in his presence," His sisters nodded. "And we say, uhh, we like playing around in it? I'm making this up as I go,"

Anna's expression turned to worry, "Will he go INTO 2fort?"

"I hope not. We'll try to steer him away from any notion of going in, but if he insists, we may have no choice," Anna's face lit up in sheer terror, which alarmed her siblings, "Why? What's wrong?"

Anna was gasping, and sweat was beginning to form, "Last time we went there, right before I left, I told him to wait by the entrance for me. He knows the days marked for us to come, so he knows it's today. He'll be in plain sight!"

This was alarming. Mary was first to voice an idea, "Well, what about… sending out signals only you and he knows? You could secretly tell him to hide,"

It was a fantastic idea, but it was missing something important.

"We don't have any secret code or any signals that dad wouldn't see," Anna pinched the bridge of her nose, "Why don't we just go somewhere else and say this is where?"

"That would almost work, but can you figure out the problem there?"

Anna pondered for a sec, but Mary spoke out first, "Our friends, huh? We'd be breaking a promise."

"Right,"

Anna looked severely distressed, breathing heavily and sweating. She slumped to the floor and began to sob.

Scott knelt down to her level, "Hey, I'll try and find a way around this; I promise. We'll tell dad enough to ease his curiosity. I'll try my best, but I'll need your help, ok?"

"Me too?" Mary chimed in

Scott chuckled, "Yes, you too, Mary."

Anna stopped sobbing and looked up past her hair, "Really? You promise?"

"Yes, Anna, I promise."

She lunged forwards and tackled her brother in a big bear hug, "Thanks big bro," Anna sobbed out

For the sake of it, Mary joined in.

\--------

About thirty minutes later, all four had somehow managed to find a comfortable spot and have room for all the camping material, mostly consisting of having to hold their luggage.

Scott drove off, not even looking back when his mom and uncle waved them goodbye. He did nothing but drive their normal route, and, as expected, Harry chimed up.

"Looks like you're going towards those buildings, Scott,"

"Yyyyyep,"

Harry's face lit up, "A-HAH!! I knew it!" He not-so-quietly celebrated, fist-pumping and hollering. After less than a minute of such celebrating, he stopped, and his face fell. All three kids had the same yeah-you-got-us-big-whoop look, Mary with a little tear.

"Wow, this is much less satisfying than I thought it would be."

As the constructs got closer, the foursome got quieter. As the car came to a stop in their normal spot, they just sat there for a minute. Finally, Scott spoke up.

"Yes, we come here, but this is our camping spot, so I suggest we have a spot to sleep,"

"R-right," His dad answered and got out. Everyone else followed suit.

The tent was set up quickly, and so everyone sat around the fire ring. 

A small moment of silence

"So… do you guys just camp near it?" Harry asked timidly

"No, we play around in it," Scott answered

"Anything interesting?"

"A lot of things to see," Anna answered, "and some spots have cool echo,"

Things began to get less tense as their dad got less suspicious. Well, up until he asked, "Can you kids show me?"

Even though it was well hidden, the same hot shock went through the three. 

Scott let out a sigh, "Yes," he stood up, and the others followed, "C'mon,"

They all stood up and walked to 2Fort, a million scenarios going through Scott's head. He was so distracted he rammed right into the chain-link fence with a start.

"Yes, that's the fence, Scotty," Anna scolded

"Shut your face," Scott rubbed his aching nose and proceeded to climb over the fence.

"Wait, that's how you get in?" Their father asked

Scott grunted with effort, "Yeah,"

"That seems a bit… trespassing-ish,"

Scott landed on the other side with a grunt, "Yeah, the hole over there is only big enough for Mary," he pointed to the scurrying girl, "Annie over here's a ninja," there was an edge of annoyance to his voice.

"Observe," said sibling bowed, ran, jumped, and hauled herself over the fence. She landed with grace and basked in her father's gawking face. "Ta-da!" She took a steep bow

Harry stood there, jaw on the ground. He could've stayed there all day, if not for his son.

"Dad. DAD." Harry shook himself out of his stupor, "Aren't you coming?"

"Oh. Y-yeah," the man proceeded to make his way over the fence.

Harry soon planted himself onto 2fort's ground, kicking up a dust cloud on impact. A small moment of silence ensued; Scott's mind raced.

"Ok then, let's see what's in building number one!" Scott began to trot to the RED building, the others following.

The RED building wasn't much different than the first time any one of the siblings stepped in it. Scott panicked; he couldn't remember the layout of this place.

After a minute or so leading their father into the base, he decided to pipe up, "So," Harry sighed out, "what do you normally do here? I know you've been coming here for a while, so what do you know?"

Scott was prepared for this question, so he opened his mouth to speak.

"After the first few times we saw everything this place had to offer," Anna, almost rudely, interjected before Scott could say anything, "so instead we began playing around."

Scott was surprised; this girl was getting smarter by the day. She had stated something really close to what he was gonna say.

"Really?" Their father chimed, "Looks like there's a lot of places you could play on."

"Yeah!" Scott interjected. He spotted a pipe within his reach, "See this? It's great for pull-ups!" He jumped up and did one pull-up with ease. "And never in all my times did it threaten to give way."

"Really? Lemme try," Harry jumped up, grabbed it, made to copy his son, but suddenly the pipe came loose, falling and taking the bewildered Harry with it. He landed with a loud THUNK!!! He groaned, sat up, and glared at Scott.

"What? It's not my fault you weigh at least twice as much as I do."

"Are you calling me _-*groan*-_ fat, boy?" Harry got up and tossed the pipe aside

"Oh, c'mon, look at you! You're goin' soft,"

Getting the hint he was being playful, he continued to play along, "Oh really? Would a guy going soft do THIS?!" He proceeded to pick up his eldest by the waist and hoist him over his shoulder.

"AHH!! Put me down, Mr. Olympia!" Scott guffawed along with his dad.

"Does tiny baby man need burps?" Harry mimicked a gruff Russian man, and began to pound Scott on the back, causing the boy to grunt and groan along with his laughter.

While the two boys were playing around, behind them there was a very worried seven year old. Clearly shaking, hunched over, and working her hands together, her eyes followed the long metal rectangular tube that ran across the ceiling. Anna glanced behind her, and noticed her sister's state. She slowed down until she was next to her and whispered in her ear.

"Worried about Sc--," she stopped herself and quickly glanced at the two males in front of her, "You-Know-Who?"

"I'm scared he'll poke his head out somewhere and… y'know..."

Anna knew exactly what.

"Ahahahaha alright dad, put me down," Scott began to pound on his father's backside, "I'm the guide! I can't guide you if you're holding me,"

With a mighty grunt, Harry hoisted the boy back on his feet, "Alright son, lead the w--,"

**CLANG ******

Everyone, especially Mary, got a nasty start and yelled in surprise. Mary began frantically searching the ducts, searching for any holes or signs her friend was moving within them 

"What was THAT?! Should we be worried?!" Harry's paranoia was showing through. 

When Scott had caught his breath, he replied, "Relax dad. You do know animals live around here, right?" He waited for his father's nod before continuing, "Well, don't expect perfect quiet, especially when there's stray bits of metal and glass layin' around. It's not the first time this has happened," 

"Then why did you three jump so harshly?" 

"It doesn't happen every time we come here, and it's always loud and startling. You don't really get used to it ever," 

"Oh, ok… No reason to panic?" 

"Not from past experience, no," 

"Yeah," Anna added, "One time it was so loud it was like some animal was just kicking the ducts to mess with us; and it was right next to me too. Annoying desert thumpers, thinking they're so funny..." 

Anna's voice trailed off as Mary stood still and they continued walking. After about ten seconds or so, she turned towards a rusted grate. She leaned in and spoke into it. 

"I'm sorry, but not right now,” her voice forlorn, “If my dad finds out about you, he'll go nuts. Maybe say we can't come back. I hope you can hear me, because I'm really sorry..." She paused, and a tear rolled down her cheek. 

"Mary!!" Her father called for his youngest. 

"Over here, daddy!" She responded, then whispered, "I'm really, really sorry," and bounded off to her father. 

Someone, somewhere in the ducts, heard her apologies, and accepted them. 

\---------------- 

"And up here's the Lookout point," Scott stated the balcony he named himself, "Gives a nice view, does it not?" 

Harry leaned over the edge slightly and shielded his eyes from the sun, "I think I can see our humble abode," 

"Indeed," he slapped his father's back, and Harry recoiled a bit, "but not just that, this would be a great sniping point!" Scott mimed holding a rifle and crouched down. "BOOM!! Yer dead!" He mimed recoil. 

Anna snuck up behind him, and embraced him in a death hug, "Gotcha! No more head-shots for you!" 

Scott thrashed around, trying to free himself from her vice hug, "Ahhhhh!!" He yelled in mock terror, "Oh father, help me!" He fake-collapsed, and proceeded to gasp out his 'last breath'. Anna let go, stood up, and placed a foot onto her brother's back. 

"The day is saved! The assas--uh, murderer is no more!" 

"Oh yeah?!" Mary chirped, her hands mimicking a gun, "Boom, boom, boom," her hands mimed recoil as she took her shots. 

"And here I come!!" Harry proceeded to try and wrestle his daughter into a headlock. Guffawing, Anna dodged his attacks. 

Scott, unable to contain himself anymore, got up, "AAARGH!! I come back from the dead!" He moaned like a zombie, "Give me your brains!" He began hobbling towards his family members. 

"Aaaah!!" Anna screamed in fake horror and hid behind Mary. Harry followed suit 

"Get 'im! Get 'im!" Harry pointed to his 'undead' son. 

"Boom!" Mary shot at him, but Scott kept coming. 

"Now I'm angry! Graaaaaugh!!" He hobbled faster 

"Aaaah! Boomboomboomboom!!" Mary continued firing, "BOOM!! You're dead!" 

"AAARGH!!" Scott slumped to the floor, "You have bested me, tiny mortal girl!" 

"Now we tickle you!" Mary chirped 

"YES!!" Harry and Anna shouted in unison. 

"Ahh! No--!" Scott tried to get away, but his siblings and father had overpowered him and began to tickle him mercilessly. 

It should be noted that Scott is very ticklish, so he laughed and laughed until his sides hurt, as well as something else, "Hahahahaha-ow." One of the deeper scars on his left side began to flare with pain, "Ok, stop stop stop," everyone dispersed. Scott sat up on his haunches, "It's hurting again," 

Harry offered his hand up, and his son gladly took it. 

They walked out of the RED base, and Harry was eager to see more of his children laughing and playing, "So, where to next?" He chimed, "I bet the BLU building also has a bunch of fun spots," 

Scott wasn't paying great amounts of attention, "Huh? Oh, BLU? Oh, it's flooded,” 

This gave their father a pause, "It's flooded?" 

"Yeah, that's what I said. Can't go in there without a wetsuit," He paused, "Wait, you sound like you can't possibly wrap your mind around this," 

"Well, here we are in a hot, dry desert, exploring a dry, decrepit set of constructs and Bam! Indoor lake. A bit off-kilter, if you ask me." 

"Well, then, I'll show you. C'mon," he motioned for his father to follow. 

They took a few steps, then Harry noticed his middle child, looking over into the gap the covered bridge spanned, and flailing her arms forward, "Anna?" He startled her, "What are you doing?" 

He heard splashes coming from within the gap. Hearing this, he hurried over to his daughter's side, "What was that?!" His eyes spazzed over the chasm, but saw little more than his reflection in the disgusting water, "What were you doing?" 

"Throwing things in to make it ripple and then do things so that I look funny in the water. I do that,” 

Harry gazed around, squinting with suspicion; under the bridge, to the large rubble pile, to the pipes adorning the large hole under the BLU base. He drew back, "Alright then, sweetie," 

Scott scoffed and lolled his head to the side, "You're so paranoid, dad." 

"Yes, I am," His voice was cold as he walked back to his son's side. They continued. 

The two of them stepped inside the moist building, and the silvery reflection of light showed the presence of lots and lots of water. Scott held out his hand in a there-it-is fashion, "See? Flooded," 

Harry stepped towards the water's edge, causing Scott's heartbeat to quicken. 

"How cold is it?" He stuck his finger into the water, sending small ripples across the surface. 

"NO!!" Scott yelled, giving his father a start. Instead of instantly pulling his finger out, the shock of his body caused his fist to submerge, making large ripples come forth. His wet hand rocketed out of the water after such. 

"What?! What is it?! Is the water toxic?! Is there flesh-eating parasite in it?!” 

"No no, n-none of that," Scott was trembling. He grabbed his father's shoulders and began steering him out, "L-let's go, now," 

Tick, Tock. Step, Step 

**SPLASH!!!**

The loud sound gave them all a start, and they turned around. Harry's face contorted to horror and opened his mouth to scream. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are gonna be dipping into reeeaaaally bad territory for the next coupl'a chapters, in more ways than one. Oh freaking dear


	10. Take Them Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mistake, that hurts us all. Goodbye, friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll give a little warning, this chapter is a bit intense, and sad. So... yeah

Mike was so kind as to cook dinner that night. He was standing by the stove, wearing Margaret's pink apron he had totally joked about earlier. Margaret herself was watching an "I Love Lucy" rerun, making small talk with him.

"Chilies or no, ma'am?" He asked

"Yes please," she responded.

"Alright then, Marge," He placed a plate of spaghetti, adorned with chili peppers, in front of her, which she took gratefully.

"Oh, I wonder what the secret is!!" She sang out. Her husband had stated many times that Mike was an excellent cook, adding a secret something in every dish he made.

"Ah ah ah," Mike shamed, "Can't tell ya. It spoils the fun of it all,"

"Hahaha alright, gotcha," She took a bite, "Hold on! Lemme guess: you boiled the noodles in seasoned water, and a touch of chicken broth; the sauce has Parmesan cheese cooked into it, aaaaaaand..." She smacked her lips, "you added a drop of lemon juice!"

Mike chortled, "All correct! Except for the chicken broth part; dunno where you got that from."

"I swear I can taste chicken somewhere in here," she took another bite and savored it, "Oh! That's not chicken broth! That's just salt,"

"Sea salt, my friend. Gives it a nice kick,"

Margaret forked some more into her mouth, "And the peppers add that spice to that slight tang I taste--"

**SLAM!!**

The back door burst open, and footsteps thundered in. Margaret whipped her head around; her husband looked like he'd seen a ghost, shaking and looking frantic. Her three children looked distressed and were crying loudly, pulling on their father's shirt. The first to act was Mike.

"Bro!" Mike grabbed Harry's shoulders, "What is it?!"

Harry grabbed Mike's shoulders and shook them, "MONSTERS!!" He screamed in Mike's face, "MONSTERS AT THE CONSTRUCTS!!!"

"WHA--?!" Mike retaliated, "Monsters don't exist,"

"Oh yes they do," Harry hissed back, "I saw one with my own eyes!" He snapped an accusing finger in the children's direction, "Ask THEM!! They know!"

By this time, Margaret was up and by their side. She looked at her children's crying faces, "Is this true?" Pausing their desperate attempts to get their father's attention, all three tearfully nodded.

This shocked their mother to her core, "E-explain!"

Mary was the first to speak, or squeak, as it really was, "We each found a monster..."

"Every time we went camping, that's what we were doing. Visiting them..." Anna added

"And if Dad would let us explain, he wouldn't freak out so--!!"

**WHAK!!**

Harry had turned around and gave his son a hard, raw smack on the cheek. The force was so much the boy fell to the ground, hitting his head on the fridge handle on his way down. The caused everyone sans Harry to cry out. The boy looked up gingerly.

"You will explain NOTHING!!" Harry screamed at his son, pointing a finger his way, "You lied to me! About everything! And my children, hanging out with twisted FREAKS!!" His voice broke, "My children will NOT wallow in such filth!!"

"FILTHY?!" Anna screamed at her father, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were racist!" She shoved him back, "Or maybe you are!"

Harry's eyes grew murderous, and he lunged for his daughter. Seeing this, Mike had to hold his brother back.

"Honey, stop!" Margaret called to her husband.

Harry wrestled out of his brother's grip and redirected his attention at her. He power walked to her, causing her to step back in fear, "Not a single word out of you, woman," He seethed through gritted teeth.

"Daddy, stop it!" Mary called out. Harry whipped around, "Stop it! You're scaring me! Be nice to us! Listen to us!"

"What? Listen to lying, conniving children? I think not," He seethed, before taking off into his office and slamming the door. Scott instantly got up and began struggling with the door. Locked. He resorted to pounding on the door and screaming to be let in.

"What happened?" Mike asked the two girls.

"Spy jumped out of the water and scared Daddy," Mary whimpered out

"Spy?”

"Scott's monster;" Anna answered, "one of the buildings is flooded, and there's an octopus man living there,"

Both adults seemed shocked, "Go on,"

This surprised the girls, but they simply hung their heads and told them about their monsters and where they were. The adults listened intently.

Scott was now slamming his entire body on the door, bellowing noises that were not human, "YOU LET ME IN OR I'll BREAK THE DOOR IN AND %$#@ YOU UP!!"

Margaret ran to his side and held him back, "Stop it! You're gonna break your shoulder!"

Scott struggled, "I can hear him! He's calling military scientists! They're gonna take them away! Lemme GO!!" Scott struggled.

The pounding resumed, this time by the girls.

"Daddy!"

"Just let us explain!!"

Scott managed to wriggle free, and joined in, "Just meet them! They are not feral beasts! They're sentient, and they're just lonely!"

The latch clicked, and the three siblings paused their pounding. The door opened slowly, showing their father and his satisfied smile. A hot, paralyzingly shock ran down their spines.

"Thanks kiddos," his tone smooth and menacing, "Without your racket, those science buffs never would've believed me." Their eyes grew wide, and began to burn, "they'll be here tomorrow morning."

Something in Scott snapped, and he slapped his father as hard as he could, raking his fingernails across his face. Harry stumbled back, holding his face. Scott emitted a guttural scream and lunged forward, but he was held back by his mother and uncle. He thrashed and screamed, screamed how much he hated his father, until he hung his head and wailed. He wrenched himself out of their grip and ran upstairs, with his siblings close behind. Three definitive slams were heard followed by the locking of doors.

Harry regained his footing and stepped out the office, leaning against the doorframe and hand over the scratches. Red escaped between the fingers. He looked up, and came face to face with two aghast stares.

"How could you?" Margaret shakily asked.

\-----------------

5:30 AM, the military had arrived. The adults came to get the children, and the same response came from all their rooms.

"GO AWAY!!" He/she would throw something against the door, "YOU COME IN HERE I'LL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!!" Curse words and filthy threats came from Scott and Anna's room.

Harry was against Scott's door, "You don't speak that way to me, young man! You come out here right now!"

"NO!!" Scott pounded the door, causing it to split, "GO /€@& YOURSELF, YOU @$&^*!!!" the boy’s language was filthy.

Margaret trying Mary's door and Mike trying Anna's was going just as well.

"Well then, we'll just come in there by brute force!" Harry slammed his body weight against the door, causing the split to widen.

"@$&€ OFF!!" Something glass shattered against the door

Harry heaved one more time, and it split more, but held firm.

"Harry!" Margaret scolded, "Don't you break down the door! Try being nice!"

"Fat lot of good it's doing you," He pounded on the door again, "Young man, if I have to break down this door to get you out, I will burn everything in your room AND whip you with a belt!"

Scott was, at this point, so distraught, that his will to rebel against his father fissured and crumpled. He began to cry, even though he thought he had no more tears to shed. He got up, wiped his face, and unlocked the door.

The first thing his father did was slap him. After Scott recovered, he glanced up at his father's face. The first thing he saw was not the flaming eyes, but the gauze around his face.

"You deserved that," Scott still had some anger in him,

"Be quiet, child,” Harry grabbed his son's hair and dragged him downstairs. There were two men standing there, both wearing army general uniforms, "Now, tell these two gentlemen that I'm not crazy," he pulled his hair forward, causing Scott to stumble in that direction. After Harry let go, Scott looked up at the two men, with an expression none too friendly.

"Your father told us last night we have a new species of creature to lock up," the first man, the tallest with the most muscle definition, "Is this true?"

The sound of his sisters’ crying was heard as they came down the stairs.

Scott glared at the men, "No," he seethed through gritted teeth, "he's crazy,"

"That's a filthy lie, you toad!!" Harry lunged forward, pulled Scott's hair back, grabbed his hands, pulled them back, and landed his head on his shoulders. "You tell them the truth,"

"I'll burn in Hell first," Scott whispered loud enough only for his dad to hear, his lips hardly moving.

One of the men scoffed and stepped forward. This one was the shorter of the two, and was rather scrawny. He wore a smirk.

"Please, release the boy, Mr. Fenrir," His voice sounded suave, and very intelligent. With a huff and a shove, father released son, "Scott, correct?"

"Yes," he spat out without looking at the one addressing him

"Ah; I am Jonson, but you may call me Jake. Your father claims there are… creatures over yonder, but you claim he's crazy," His voice was so sickeningly smooth it infuriated the boy, "Do you have any evidence backing your claim?"

Scott slowly looked up and met eye to eye with the man. Cool jade. "Me and my sisters behind me, we go on a camping trip every week for the weekend. It's a bonding experience between us three. But our father suspected us from the start, foolishly. He was paranoid we were doing something in the desert, something he can't monitor. You see, our father is a control freak, and gets paranoid when he can't control every aspect of our lives,”

"YOU STOP LYING ABOUT ME!!" Harry ran forward, ready to deliver punishment

"MR. FENRIR," Jake called out sharply, causing Harry to pause, "Let the boy speak," Harry withdrew, "Continue, Scott,"

"He saw that we were doing something he considered out of line; this time we told him that we play around on the constructs out there. Upon hearing that, he snapped, and went above and beyond to be sure we never leave his control again."

Scott saw his father in his side vision: if Jake hasn't told him to back off, he was sure he would've strangled him.

"I see," Jake leaned out, "But that's not insanity, that's a paranoid father, trying to make sure his children are safe,"

Scott felt heat rush to his cheeks, "But what about the claim about the monster?" Scott's head was abuzz with excuses, "You and I both know monsters don't exist. Dad was willing to go so far as to claim imaginary beasts to keep us under his watch. Therefore, I claim insanity, and disregard any notion of a grey, somewhat clothed octopus man,”

Jake grew a smirk, "Your father never said anything about what color the octopus man was, nor that it wore any clothes at all,"

Scott's eyes grew wide, heat ran into his face, and his mouth dropped open. He had slipped up.

"General Akin," Jake said to the other man, "tell your men to start their trucks, don all safety gear, and load up the dart guns,"

"No!" All three children howled and ran forward. Anna and Mary grabbed onto General Akin and tried to keep him back. Scott ran and grabbed Jake's suit coat.

"You will not take our friends away from us!" They snarled in unison, before each of the adults grabbed a kid and pulled them back.

"You all will get into a truck with us," General Akins commanded.

"Wha--? Why?" Margaret asked, stunned.

"Our guess is that your children are the key to luring them out,"

"You ain't using my nieces and nephew as bait, you swelled head!" Uncle Mike stepped in and bellowed

"I thought as much," there was an electronic squawk, "Peters, get your heiney in here. They're being uncooperative.”

The front door splintered open and five incredibly large men came charging in. Since Harry and Scott were the closest, they were grabbed first. They went kicking and struggling. Mike holding Mary and Margaret holding Anna were close behind.

\----------------

There were tears in the girl’s eyes, "I don't wanna,"

They had gotten to the 2Fort quickly, and had split into three groups to follow each child. Mary found herself talked into standing by a vent opening on the outside.

Her mother knelt down by her, and put her hands on her shoulders. "The nice men don't want to hurt your friend, they just want to see him," She tried to keep her voice level, but she knew she was lying.

"But they're not nice," Mary whimpered, "and they're going to be mean to him,"

"As long as I'm here, I promise they won't hurt him,"

Mary shook her head, "I don't wanna,"

"How about this, I'll tell them to stay back, and we can all see him,"

She grasped her mother's shirt collar and brought her closer, "Do you promise?"

"With everything I have,"

A small moment, and Mary nodded, "Ok," She stepped back, and suddenly pointed a finger in the soldiers’ direction, "But make them promise too!"

A laugh rippled across the small band and they all chanted the "Cross my Heart, Hope to Die," chant.

"I will hold you all to it," Margaret threatened, “remember that,”

Not feeling a single bit better, and a new surge of tears coming on, she approached the vent and crouched down. Sucking in a breath, she began calling for him.

"Scoot," she called out with as much as she could, "Scooty, I'm here to see you," she said the last 'you' in a sob. From inside the vent, the sounds of something approaching came. This startled the soldiers a bit, a murmur rippling through the squad, "Scoots? Can I give you a hug?"

His shadow came into view, followed by his silhouette. The yellow glow of his eyes reflected on the metal wall.

She was hit by a wall of sobs, her face contorting, "C-c'mon, Scoots," she managed to say between her tears, "I want you t-to meet my mommy,"

His eyes widened, and dashed to the duct opening. He hissed from the light, but stepped out into the open. The soldiers and Margaret all gasped and began to stumble back.

Scoot didn't seem to notice; his focus was on Mary, or more importantly, that she was crying. A look of concern plastered onto his face, he raised a clawed hand to her face. Margaret was about to lunge forward, but she stopped herself. The beast placed his hand on his friend's cheek and brushed the tear away. The girl grasped the hand.

"You have to run, Scoot," she whispered to him, "the men wanna hurt you. They say they won't, but I don't believe them,"

There was a moment of tense, grief-stricken silence, the soldiers too shocked to do anything.

"Wh-what're you pansies doing?!" One of the soldiers called out, snapping them out of their trance, "Hogtie that thing!"

One moment, Scoot was comforting Mary; the next, a dog capture noose wrapped around his neck. He bellowed and began to thrash around. The soldier holding the noose began to drag him towards him. Scoot resisted, trying to brake, his claws digging trenches in the ground below him, bellowing and screeching the whole time.

Margaret had rushed to her daughter's side and began to pull her away. Mary resisted, yelling and screaming as much as the beast the men were hauling away.

"Lemme go!" She wailed, "They're hurting him! They're hurting him! They promised! YOU promised!" New tears began to be shed.

"I'm so sorry dear, I can't do anything," Margaret held her daughter close.

"I'm sorry, mom," Mary whispered, then elbowed her as hard as she could in the stomach.

Margaret's eyes grew wide, and let her daughter go to double over in pain. The girl wasted no time.

"You let him go!" She grabbed a broken metal pipe and ran over to the man tugging her friend away. She hit his shin as hard as she could, "Stop it! Stop it!"

The man cried out in pain, and changed his center of attention. "Stop that," and promptly kicked the little girl away, her stumbling back until her head hit the wooden wall of the RED base.

Big mistake.

The soldier paused, shocked at his own strength. Growls were heard building, angry growls. He turned his attention to the creature; his face was slowly contorting into one of horrible rage. He lunged.

Roaring in anger, he sank his teeth into the soldier's arm, as well as burying his claws into his chest. Blood sprayed out.

The man backpedaled and screamed in pain, trying to pry the animal off him. In doing so, he dropped the noose handle. Seeing this, Scoot freed his teeth from the man's flesh. He quickly jumped backwards off the man and began bounding back to Mary.

Mary had painfully crawled two feet from where she landed, trying to reach her chained up friend. Margaret managed to stand where her feet were supporting her body, but remained doubled over. She hobbled closer to her daughter, but the rate she was going wasn't fast. She began to reach out to her daughter, but a mass barreling at her made her stop. Scoot jumped right at her, bloody maw wide open. Calling out, she withdrew just in time. Scoot's teeth snapped shut on air. Still using the inertia from his leap, he landed over Mary, grabbed the hem of her dress, and bolted into the metal duct with the girl in tow. They clattered quickly out of sight. Margaret cried out in distress, but that faded as the darkness of the vent closed in on the two.

There was no regard for silence. The two bounced around walls, skidded across long stretches of duct, and the sound of feet running plus loud scraping along the duct made the two very loud but very fast. Scoot zipped across the familiar route, and soon the vent opened up into Scoot's little room. He dropped the girl onto the blankets and turned his attention to the ceiling, twitching his head and ears to the slightest sound.

Mary's heart ached, "Scoot," she rasped out. He said nothing, "I'm sorry," Still nothing, "Scoot, please. I'm truly sorry--" He shushed her, she scooted herself towards him, "Scoot, please listeh--"

"Mary, shush!" He whisper-yelled back at her.

"No Scoot, you have to hear what I have to s--"

A loud clanking sound erupted from the surrounding vent openings. Someone was climbing through the ducts. Scoot snapped to attention, snapping his head to wherever the clanking erupted next.

"Scoot, wha--?"

He pushed Mary's head down onto a pillow, effectively quieting her. She kept her head there.

**clank Clank CLANK CLANK Clank clank clank clank**

Without her own permission, Mary began to cry. Not the sobbing kind she had been doing for hours before, but the silent somber kind where you feel blue and your eyes leak water. Her silent tears stained the pillow.

Her heart ached; she desperately needed to tell Scoot this was her fault, or guilt would eat at her forever after.

**Clank clank clnk cnk...**

"Scoot, I--"

"Please Mare-ee, quiet or-find us,"

"But if we whisper, they can't hear us, and they're far away," the tears streamed down her face, "I need to tell you something..." Her voice began to crack

Scott turned around, a nervous curiosity coloring his face, "What?"

"We made a mistake, and daddy found out our secret, and mean men came to take you all away." She began to sob, "They made me tell them where you were; this is all my fault," she rubbed an eye, causing her glasses to fall onto the blankets.

Scoot picked them up and put them back on, "Mary, it's-ok. Don't blame you. You-didn't-want to, right?"

She nodded.

He was so absorbed in comforting his friend that he didn't notice the clanking getting nearer and nearer. A gun cocked, and Scoot whipped around to an opening.

A gruff soldier had found the hideout, and was now pointing a revolver at them. Scoot quickly assumed the position of a dog protecting something precious, snarling in the face of the gun.

"Found you, you freak," his voice sounded like he was seriously winded, "Now let your prey go,"

"I'm not a prey!" Mary recoiled, "He's trying to protect me!"

"Really? I don't believe that," he shoved the gun barrel right between Scoot's eyes, "I don't believe any of your brainwash crap. This is your final warning; let her go. One, Two," His finger began to tighten around the trigger.

"NO!!" Mary pushed her way past Scoot and between him and the gun. The gun was now pointed at her sternum.

"MARY!!" Scoot called out in horror.

The man scoffed, "So it speaks,"

"Yes, he does, and has many great things to say. And I'm not going to let you take him away to never talk again,"

"Who ever said we would make him never talk again?"

Mary squinted at him, "How do I know you're not?"

His patience was wearing thin, "Look kiddo, I'm not leaving without your friend--"

"His name is Scoot," She spat back at him

"Whatever, girlie. I'm not leaving without him, alive or not," He pointed the gun past her and towards Scoot, "So make your choice--AHH!!"

**BLAM!**

Mary had done something really stupid. She had slapped the gun, in hopes to knock the gun out of his hand. Instead she shocked him so much that his hand had twitched, sending a bullet flying into and penetrating the duct wall. Scoot snarled viciously and pushed Mary aside, facing the gun with all teeth blazing, letting the anger seep out via his guttural growls.

"You no-hurt-Mary," He slipped out between his growls, "Or I--kill you,"

"Oooh," the man hissed out in fake hurt, "Strong words for a beastie," he pointed the gun at Scoot's throat, "Face it, abomination, I'm not leaving until you agree to come along, and you're gonna agree, one way or another,"

"No!" Mary still had fight left in her. She shoved Scoot out of the way and stood in front of the barrel again, "And I'm not about to let you do this, you meanie," her eyes flaming.

"You got quite some fire, kiddo, but all for naught," a smug grin plastered itself on the man's face, "You see, if I don't come back for a while, another one will come in, and the cycle goes on, and they might not be as nice as me. Keep that in mind, girlie,"

"Then I'll fight as long as it ta--" Mary's strong words came to a halt as a familiar rough hand clasped onto her shoulder. She whizzed around; Scoot looked defeated.

"No more Mar-ee," his tone was just as defeated as his expression. He gently pushed the girl to the side and offered the leash to the man, who took it without hesitation.

"Well, whaddya know, you have sense as well," the soldier was still smirking.

Scoot's expression flared, "But if Mary hurt," He bared his teeth, "You get hurt. Yes?"

The soldier's look was condescending, "Alright, I won't hurt her. Now come along!" He yanked on the noose, sending Scoot forward.

"Hey!" Mary yelled. She was about to remark something else, but the expression Scoot had made her stop. She hung her head as they wandered through the ducts.

\------------

"No," Anna stuck up her nose and crossed her arms.

They were in the first tunnel of the sewer, one connecting to a raised vent opening. There was a different group of soldiers with dart guns ready. Uncle Mike there with them, wanting to see for sure if the Man was as bad as he had heard. General Akin tried to convince the stubborn girl to call out to her monster, but to no avail. He tried a different tactic.

"Well, how's your friendship with him?"

"Close enough to see right through that sorry stra-stra-tactic of yours," that didn't make a load of sense, but it got her point across. Akin tried another one.

"How about a picture of him? Do you have one?"

"No!" She blew a raspberry at him, "You think I'm stupid, don't you?"

Akin was reaching the end of his rope, "Look, female. I don't have time to deal with your bull,"

"Hey!" Mike cried out in distaste, "You don't call my niece that!" He began to advance forward, but the soldiers held him back.

"You stay out if this, hippie!" He called to the man, then turned his attention back to Anna, "Look, you," his voice was dripping with poison, "there's something of interest in this maze, and you know it. It is my job to investigate things of interest, and I would like to get paid. My patience is wearing thin, so I suggest you tell me where it is,"

Anna was silent for a moment before spitting out a solid, "No,"

Akin snapped. He slapped the girl as hard as he could. She cried out in surprise and fell into the shallow water. Mike cried out in rage and struggled against the hold of the soldiers. Akin grabbed Anna by the shirt, pulling her up level to his beet-red face.

"Now listen here and listen good," his anger was past yelling, "That was a warning. Now I'm gonna give you one more chance to tell me before I break you. Am I cle--?" He stopped in his tracks, an unnatural sound permeating the area.

Harsh, raspy growls filled the air, causing everyone to go silent. Anna smirked.

"I think you just made a horrible mistake, Akin,"

With a loud shriek, a figure barreled at the general, raking claws across his face. Akin bellowed and fell to the ground, holding his jaw, four red cuts now cutting clear to his nose. Bone was showing.

The figure rebounded in front of Anna, using his now bloody hand to block her. At the sight of the green-skinned creature, everyone gasped and began to back away a bit.

"Thanks, Doc," Anna gasped out, holding her tender cheek, "But now you've got to run," Doc growled in response, and didn't move, "Doc?" Her voice was growing urgent. He still didn't move, "Doc?!"

He growled back again, it sounded a bit like, "Quiet," but not quite. Anna got the message, and clammed up.

For a good ten seconds he stood like that, blocking his friend from the threat. The soldiers did nothing, too shocked to do much. Some were quaking in their boots, some turned to run.

"Well!" Akin's pained voice struck, "What are you maggots waiting for?!" He got to his feet, blood seeping out from between the cracks of his fingers, "Shoot it!"

"No!" Both Mike and Anna cried out. The soldiers fired the dart guns. Doc yelped and sheltered Anna's body with his own, the darts lodging themselves into his flesh. He bellowed in pain.

"Doc, no!" Anna, upon seeing the large darts, cried out.

"You $&*/|~[$!!" Mike swore loudly and landed a nasty strike to a soldier's chest, causing him to barrel over in pain. He ran forward, but the others quickly caught him and twisted his arm back. Mike fell to the watery ground, crying out in pain.

"They're on the run! Move it!" Akin cried out to his soldiers.

Mike's outburst had caught the attention of the entire squad, so they didn't see the beast grab Anna's arm and run off into the sewer. The soldiers grabbed their weapons and ran down into the tunnels.

.........................

Despite the darts and other factors, Doc ran incredibly fast. Or at least to Anna he did. She tripped and fell many times, but Doc held her up and they continued on running. The twists and turns of the sewer made Anna's head swim, but Doc still pulled her along. The shouts of the soldiers kept them on their toes, skidding to a halt and running down a different tunnel if needed. Soon the girl was getting exhausted from running at full speed for so long. 

Anna began to notice Doc swaying and misstepping. He knocked against the walls a few times, had to stop to shake his head and keep going. Anna hoped it wouldn't be too bad, but eventually they slowed to a halt, Doc panting heavily. He was leaning against the wall, a glazed look in his eyes.

"Doc?" Anna shook his arm, "C'mon Doc, you can do it!" She started lightly slapping the side of his face, resulting in slight yelps from her friend. It wasn't so much Anna that got him running again, but the sound of the soldiers closing in on them. His eyes snapped to attention, grabbed the girl’s arm, and continued the chase.

They were running out of room to run; seemingly every twist and turn held a throng of sounds of soldiers. If that wasn't bad enough, the darts were doing their job. Doc couldn't run very fast, he was stumbling, and panting; but he tried hard to stay awake and keep going. But it wasn't enough; Doc stopped at last, and fell into the water.

"Doc!" Anna squeaked out. She knelt down to his side and held his head above the shallow water. Rancid air hit her nose; good, he's still breathing, "Doc, c'mon. Don't let this lick you! Get up! C'mon, get up!"

No result. Doc was out cold in a drugged sleep. Worse still, the soldiers were drawing ever closer. Anna gasped out. No, she won't let them find him and take him away. With an angry resolve, she grabbed the beast by both arms and pulled forward. With a groan of effort, the body moved forward. She pulled again, he inched further more.

The sounds of the soldiers drew ever closer. Anna pulled harder.

Closer

Closer

"There they are!"

"NO!!" Anna's scream sounded inhuman. The soldiers, in shock, took a step back. Anna embraced her friend protectively, "You WILL NOT take him!"

The soldiers, now over their notion of fear, began to move forward. Anna cried out in anger, and so did another voice.

"Get away from them!" Uncle Mike broke through the wall of advancing soldiers and began fighting with them. One soldier, who have had it up to here, slugged him in the face, effectively knocking him to the ground with a bleeding nose.

"Uncle Mike!" A soldier grabbed her arm, "Hey! Leggo!!" She squirmed with all she had, but the soldier had more. He got her in a headlock. She watched as the largest one pick up her friend and sling him over his back like a sack of flour. They were escorted out.

\--------------------

"You cannot make me," Scott's voice was like 60-grit sandpaper. Jake chuckled.

"I've never seen anyone so stubborn," the smile on that man's face was sickening, "We have high-powered rifles, explosives, and the nation's finest soldiers here, and you’re resisting. How quaint,” He chuckled, “I’ll give you one last chance, call your beastie,”

Scott was standing on the stair right before the water, Jake standing about arm’s length in front of him. Behind the two of them was a platoon of soldiers and Harry, the latter with an expression of giddy anxiety.

“No, I refuse,”

“Oh please. You’re being irrational, boy,”

“No, I am being perfectly rational. You want something from me, but I don’t want you to have it. So what do I do? I do nothing to help you,”

“And how is that rational?”

“I care deeply about what you want, and I know you’ll hurt him,”

“Oh come now, how do you know that?”

“Go to hell,” He spat at him

Jake sighed, “Alrighty then,” He flipped out a butterfly knife and stuck it in Scott’s direction. Scott cried out in surprise, “Call your friend,”

After the shock wore off, Scott chuckled, his laughter unsettling, “You won’t hurt me. You need me to talk, and if you hurt me, I clam up,”

Jake laughed as well, his even more unsettling, “Oh my dear boy, I would never hurt you… excessively,”

With a flick of his wrist, Scott’s jacket cloth ripped, along with his skin. Scott cried out and back stepped into the water, holding the bleeding gash in his arm.

“Hey!” Harry cried out, “That’s my son!” He began to rush forward.

“Restrain him,” Jake ordered. Harry was quickly grabbed and cuffed by the hands of the platoon, squirming all the while, “That was a warning, boy,” Jake took a step closer, and put the bleeding tip of the knife next to Scott’s throat, “I’ll do it again if I have to, and again, and again. I’m going to warn you one more time, call your little friend or you will be hurti--”

**SPLASH**

_**“HHHHHHHRRRRRRAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGG!!!”** _

**“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGG!!!”**

A large grey blur had manifested and Jake was on the floor, large black talons raking down his back. The man kicked until the beast let him go. He instantly crawled out of the water and towards the soldiers, who backed away from him.

The beast laid along the staircase, half in the water and half out. He lay with his head down in a menacing pose, his hands shining with fresh blood.

"Spy?" Scott whispered to him, resulting in a concerned wayward glance.

Jake gasped for breath, somehow managing to stand up, "So THIS is the grand creature I've heard all about," he took a painful breath in, "Not so impressive I must say. I made you out to be mor--"

Spy hissed loudly and opened his mouth as far as his jaw would unhinge. His long tongue swished and swayed, flinging saliva towards the crowd. Many soldiers flinched, but no one ran off.

"Yes," Jake was being persistent, "you are a right beastie. A nasty piece of work, you are. Now be a good boy and come with us," he winced in pain.

Spy was silent for a moment, before he smirked a mile wide. The water began to bubble and churn, and fleshy objects began to flicker. He began to rise up, showing his bottom half did not come to two legs, but many large, writhing tentacles. Everyone but Scott gasped and backed up. The furthermost soldiers stepped out into the sun.

"It IS an octopus man!" A random soldier cried out in panic

"I've seen what he can do," Scott started with a threatening tone, "he can rip the head off a rabbit with ease, tear open a can with not a sweat broken. He can squeeze the life out of anyone and anything, make your eyes pop out of your sockets. He has never hurt me, but he is fully capable of hurting anyone and anything that dares hurt those he cares about," he glared at Jake and the dark red streaks staining the back of his perfect suit, "I think you should get that looked at, Jakey. How do you know this place is sterile? And that his form isn't contagious?"

A look of panic befell the man, as well as the color leaving him, until he calmed down and color returned, "Because if you're father's words are true, you've been coming here for months, and there's nothing wrong with you," he gasped and winced.

"Ah yes, but I haven't had a severe, open wound here. And, if I'm reading the situation correctly, you should pass out from blood loss within the next ten sec--"

Before he could finish the sentence, the man's legs wobbled and he fell flat on his face. The soldiers around him cried out and picked him up. They carried him out the BLU building and out of sight.

There was a moment of silence, until Harry spoke up, "What are you all just standing there for?! Remember what I called you out here for in the first place! Hogtie it!" He pointed to the grey beast in front of him.

Sounds of remembrance rippled through the crowd and they surged forward. Spy hissed and "stood" in front of Scott.

"Wha-- They're after you, not me! You need to run away!" He suddenly remembered that his friend can't run at all.

Spy sent his black tongue out and whipped the nearest soldier in the face, a gash appearing on his cheek. He cried out and everyone hesitated for a split second.

"Non," He hissed out, "no run. Fight," he used a tentacle to trip a soldier to the side.

"No!" The boy surged forward, but a tentacle pushed him back behind, "You're outnumbered!"

A rope wrapped around his hand. Spy hissed and pulled with all his might, but the soldier was stronger. While he was distracted, another rope wrapped around his other hand, then his neck, then any tentacles flailing around. They pulled him down, almost kneeling.

"Come here, Scott," his father commanded.

"No!" He yelled defiantly, and began to tug at the rope holding Spy's neck, "I won't let you take him away so easily!"

A soldier groaned and began to approach the boy, who promptly punched him in the gut. It made the soldier recoil ever so slightly, but he wrestled the struggling boy into a headlock and pulled him out of the water. He threw him down onto the concrete.

Harry's shadow overfell his son, "You are rather disobedient. We should get that remedied as soon as possible," 

Scott painfully looked at his father in the eyes, shooting him the look of a thousand knives.

"Well now, let's wheel out this monstrosity," Harry commanded. The soldiers pulled, and with a cry and a struggle, Spy left the water. Scott stared at the sad sight in front of him, and his eyes began to sting with tears.

A harsh hand pulled on his jacket, forcing him to stand.

"Come along, devil child," and Harry forced his son out into the sunlight.

\------------------------

All three kids and respective captured monsters stepped out into the courtyard. Soldiers barked commands, engines rumbled, children yelling and crying, it was rather loud.

The first thing Mary saw was her sister in headlock rising out of the gorge, and then a green… thing… slung over a very large soldier's shoulder.

"Doc..." Mary whispered to herself.

It was slight, yes, but Scoot heard her. He froze up, and glanced up. His eyes widened, and began to strain against the noose. He began to cry out.

"No! No! Not-him! No!"

"Scoot?!" Mary cried out in alarm, "What is it?!"

"Cut that out!" The soldier pulled on the noose, making Scoot fall forward

He still struggled and pulled in fear, until the choking of the noose made him stop. He continued on, shaking like a leaf.

..............

Anna was in her uncomfortable headlock as she was led up the rubble pile and into the open courtyard. She never took eyes off of Doc.

What made her turn away was the sound of something loud and inhuman screeching. She looked for the source, and saw a dog-like man along with her sister. He was straining against the noose that held him captive.

"So that's Scoot," she said under her breath

"What was that?!" The soldier holding her barked harshly

"You got me out here, you got my friend. Mission ac-complished. You can let me go now,"

With a huff, he dropped her. A hand clamped itself around her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" Uncle Mike asked in concern, "How's your cheek?"

“How’s yours?” She rubbed said cheek, "It'll be hurting for a bit, but I think I'm fine. My arm does hurt from being pulled along in the sewers, though,"

"I don't blame him for doing that,"

"Neither do I. I just wish it worked..."

Mike let that hang.

.................

Scott was pulled out into the sun, which made him squint. He couldn't see through the bright sun just yet; all he could see now were blocks of color.

The soldiers were a mass of dark green, and one had a white and lighter green thing slung over his back. He suddenly heard screeching, but he couldn't tell from where just yet.

"Sir, I think we should be in front of you," the soldier holding the neck rope stated.

"Fine, move right along," Harry gestured with his head

The soldiers dragged the octopus man along the dirt and over the covered bridge, Spy trying as hard as he could to walk with his tentacles.

The screeching stopped, and Scott was more used to the sun now. As he was moved across the covered bridge, he glanced around for the others. The green and white thing turned out to be a green man-thing in a whitish coat, unconscious. There was a pale, dog-ish man being led along by a noose around it's neck. He assumed the screeching came from him.

Where these monsters were, his family was not far behind. Mary was close to the dog man, with their mother silently crying. Anna was close to the green man, Uncle Mike next to her with his hand on her shoulder. Scott was a bit envious; all his siblings were given love and comfort, while he was left with his monster of a father. Scott growled and strained against his lead.

There was a loud clanging sound. Everyone looked up to see one of the large military vans had pulled up and knocked down the chain-link fence. Two soldiers pulled the back hatch open, showing a large inside, for humans. For the monsters, especially Spy, it would be a bit cramped.

The soldiers began to push said monsters inside (except for the guy carrying Doc, who just threw him in). It wasn’t easy getting Scoot inside, seeing that he wanted to be as far away from Doc as he could get. At first he refused to jump in, so he stood there, trembling on the fallen chain-link fence. It took a soldier to lift him up and throw him in. The first thing he did when inside was to proceed to the farthest corner away from the unconscious one.

Spy was the hardest of all to get in, considering he could hardly even walk with his fancy lower half, much less hoist himself up to get into the van. He tried once, but his dry and dirty tentacles couldn’t grab hold and he slipped down. The soldiers began to try and hoist him up themselves, but try and try and strain as they might, they couldn’t get all that mass up; he was simply too heavy.

They hoisted once, they hoisted twice, until Spy turned around and pushed them away, cursing in French.

“Let-me, you idiots,” He hissed at them. The soldiers let go of his bindings.

Spy grabbed onto the sides of the van with everything he had and hoisted himself up. The van creaked and leaned under his weight, but he got in, all of himself taking up most of the room inside.

The soldiers slammed the doors shut, cutting the monsters off from view. One last something sparked inside the children, and they all surged forward, Scott tearing free from his hold.

“NO!!” They all three screamed as they ran after the van.

They never had run so fast before, all of their energy going towards sprinting. There was a small moment where it seemed like they were getting closer, but the van sped up and left them choking in the kicked up dust.

The sting of even more tears came to their eyes as they all collapsed to their knees, panting heavily. Mary fell over on her side, into fetal position. They all sat there, on the ground or on their knees, wailing and sobbing like they’ve never wailed and sobbed before. Besides the audible sorrow, it was quiet. The soldiers were silent as well as the parents. Harry could feel his steely resolve begin to crumble when he saw how distraught his children were. He lowered his head slightly.

What madness did he just do?

\--------------------------------------

“I-It’s your favorite! Spaghetti Casserole!” Margaret placed the steaming dish of American-Italian food onto the table and sat down. She could already tell the children were in no mood to eat.

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Harry could feel the glare of a thousand daggers coming from his son, the one with his head down, bandage around his arm, shaking and gripping his cup so tight that everyone swore you could hear it cracking.

“So, uh…” Harry thought he should try and break the ice, “Dig in, kiddos! Like your mother said, it’s your favor--”

He was interrupted by Anna slamming her cup on the table. She stood up and leaned over the table, “Why did you do that?” She commanded

“Whu--?”

“Don’t play stupid, you know what I mean,”

“Watch your tone, young lady. You didn’t tell me--”

“And WHY do you think we didn’t tell you, HUH?! Just take a guess why,” She waited a moment, “Because we were afraid you would act EXACTLY the way you did! We met them and we made their lonely, lonely lives better; and guess what? They made OUR lonely lives better too! We had something to look forward to! Where do you think I got the sudden notion to play the violin, huh? It was from Doc, MY Doc!” She slapped her chest twice and her voice cracked as her face twisted up, “You are so JUDGEMENTAL!!” She pounded the table, “We were able to look past the scary outside! And see the wonderful inside! ‘Beauty is only skin deep,’ eh? Isn’t that what you’ve always told us?” Her voice had quieted to an angry, unstable level voice, “Well, you have us now. We’ll never have anything to look forward to anymore, because theRE’S NOTHING TO DO OUT IN THIS _BARREN WASTELAND ANYMORE!!!_ ” Her voice slowly rose to a screeching bellow and, with tears flying, she knocked over her chair and ran up the stairs. There was a very loud slam.

It was tensely quiet, as the parents still felt the aftershock from all that.

“Does… anyone else have anything to--” Scott quickly pushed his chair back and ran up the stairs. There was another slam, “say…”

Margaret turned to Mary, “How about you?”

Mary’s face was contorted in angry sorrow, “Annie’s right, YOU SUCK!!” She followed in Scott’s footsteps and slammed her door.

The two parents were left, wide-eyed and shaken.

“They are right, you know,” Uncle Mike’s bodiless voice came from his room, “What you did just then was not groovy at all,” He came out, suitcase rolling behind him.

“How did I know those beasts wouldn’t harm them? I have to kee--”

“No no no no. Save it. If they wanted to hurt them, they would’ve done so already. Put two and two together, bro; they go out there every two weeks, and then beg for once a week, for months and always come back happier, never hurt. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that they really enjoyed going to see them. It seems to me you’re just grasping for a reason to separate them,” Mike let that hang for a moment until he spoke again, “When I was down there with Anna, I admit the sight of her friend made me step back a bit, but the only time he hurt anyone was when they hurt her. Akin deserved it. And when everyone was distracted, he decided to turn and run away instead of fight. He even shielded her from those tranq darts. That was no monster, that was a better being than most of us on this planet,” He glared extra hard at his sibling.

“Wh-where are you going?” Harry had the courage to ask

“Oh, I’m leaving. I’m getting an apartment of my own. The school year’s about to start and so I need to be closer to town. And also the fact that I can’t stand to live with such a disgusting member of society. Of all the people I expected this from… Just the thought of you being related to me makes me sick,” And with that poison, he took his leave and flicked the curtain that was the front door closed. There was the sound of an engine starting and a car driving away

Margaret wasted no time, “You do know you have the couch tonight,” She stood up, “And I’m being generous, I was going to make you sleep on the outside porch,” she began to walk away, “When the food cools down put it in the fridge,” She went into her room and closed the door. Harry could swear he heard it lock.

The man leaned on the table and rubbed his eyes to try and keep them from leaking; every member of his family had just walked out on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite everything presented here, this is soooooo not the end! I have at least 7 more big chapters to this story, including twists and turns and new characters! Or rather... they're not very "new" at all. You all know them.
> 
> But enough spoilers, enjoy the pain!


	11. Catch Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They haven't seen each other for years. What will they say to each other? How will others react to them wherever they're going?

He slowly came to, whatever drugs in those darts finally getting metabolized out of his system. He groaned, before a thought hit his mind, making him snap at attention.

“Anna!” he screeched out, but a quick eyeful of the closed doors of a moving vehicle proved he was somewhere else, she was gone, and they had lost. He sighed in defeat.

There was a ragged, scared breathing behind him.

Turning around showed him that he was not alone in this vehicle; a large, grey, multi-limbed creature, who took up a good portion of the space, was sitting stock still, looking nowhere. They were not the one breathing hard. A twitch of an eye showed a much smaller beast, eyes wide and stance small, was staring directly at him.

 _“What??”_ He snarled at it, and it recoiled with a yelp, _“You got a problem??”_

 _“Yeah, I do!”_ It barked back, both anger and fear on their voice, _“or do ya not remember??”_

_“Remember what?”_

_“I thought not,”_ it, he, made himself larger and bristled, _“Ya killed me!”_

A small spark of recollection happened in his mind, _“D… Da… Scout?”_ He fumbled with the memories until it came to a conclusion

_“Yeah, that’s me! My problem is I hate you! Ya went after me twice, intent ta kill me dead!”_

No one was going to speak to him that way. A flash of anger surfaced, _“We were on opposing teams. You had to be used to it!”_

 _“I sure as hell wasn’t used to getting my insides ripped out and watching them get eaten right in fronta me by a monster I ain’t never seen before!”_ Things were beginning to heat up, _“Ta think I kinda sorta liked you!”_

He began to growl, along with a wobbly attempt to stand, _“I have no memories of doing that! When did that happen?? You’re lying to me!”_

 _“I sure as hell ain’t lyin’ to ya, and I sure as hell ain’t lyin’ to say I can’t wait to rip ya open!”_ Eyes flaming and claws at the ready, Scout leapt. Doc was ready for him though, he was already on his feet and struck the leaping beast to the side, leaving three fresh wounds on the attacker's face. That did nothing but fan the flames.

Scout roared and made to leap again, but before he could latch himself onto his enemy, a grey blur slapped him away. A similar force sent Doc to the floor. A new voice spoke

 _“No!”_ It was hissy and rather pissed off, _“This is pointless, and you two fighting like this over past issues will not help anyone at all, much less yourselves. I will not tolerate such in my presence to get me hurt in the crossfire!”_

Scout raked his claws across the floor of the van, filling the space with harsh squeals, _“So easy for you to say, isn’t it?! Just so we wouldn’t hurt you as well, it’s just like ya! You freakin’ selfish walking piece of--!”_ He didn’t get to finish, as Spy had smacked him again across the face

_“That's not the point; things are different now, understand? None of us are the men we remember each other to be, am I wrong? Especially not the men we were supposed to be--”_

There was a loud banging on the window opposite the vehicle doors. An angry face peered through, “Ya ‘bominations stop that racket! ‘M this close ta gettin’ in there an’ shootin’ y’all dead jes’ for th’ quiet!” The face disappeared, and silence reigned once again.

Spy paused, looking away from the window with a look of pain on his pale grey face, _“We’ve all been hurt enough today, haven’t we?”_

Doc paused himself, and his gaze fell on Scout again. His eyes were red and puffy, as well as gleaming streaks down his warped face. A twitch of the eye, and his gaze fell on the thin, pink mark wrapping itself around his neck. Doc’s face fell, and with a sigh he remembered the darts; one in his shoulder, one in his back, and one in his upper leg. He pulled them out with a wince each and stuffed them into an intact coat pocket; no sense letting them roll around.

 _“Not only us, ja?”_ His voice was low.

Scout was silent as he shuffled into a ball of himself, his back to the creature that haunted many of his nightmares.

 _“Scout,”_ said being flinched hard, _“I truly am sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me, because how can y--”_

 _“Scoot,”_ He said it low, but the other two managed to pick it up, _“call me Scoot. She did,”_

The vehicle rumbled, the only sound in the entire space for a good five minutes, until the beasts began again to growl amongst themselves, playing Catch Up after four long and lonely years.

\------------------

The room was dark and cold, the only source of warmth being a single large yet threadbare blanket the three monsters huddled under. Their surroundings were relatively clean, but the past few days they spent there, and no other means available for them to relieve themselves, the cleanliness was now soiled and stunk. It was late at night, so the monsters were now in a fitful, starving sleep.

The monsters were well aware of it’s presence, but they did not know the main scientist was behind the two way mirror in the lefthand wall, as well as the head security guard. Soundproofed and quiet, the two men were conversing.

“These three don’t cause any trouble at all. No fighting amongst themselves, no fighting us when we take samples of them, even keeping them in this cell doesn’t get their ire up,” Scientist Dr. Toulouse said with absolutely no hint of emotion, “It’s like they’ve given up,”

“Well, you know the story,” Security man Derek Housewell replied, “Those three kids, they’re away from them; and now they’re here, to be poked and prodded at by us. I’d have given up too,”

Toulouse sneered, “Don’t sympathize with them, they’re not human. And don’t start that argument about animals having feelings. They don’t, and these are not animals. ‘Animal’ would be implying that they are products of nature. These,” he gestured at the glass, “clearly are not. Freaks, monsters, abominations, use those words to describe them; it is much more fitting,”

Housewell raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off, “Eh, I’m only here to make sure these guys don’t escape, but they don’t seem to have any motivation to,”

“A farce, my friend. to lower your guard and then they spring,”

There was a silence. Thunder rumbled outside

“Still, I have to say they show sentience. Anything at all that shows sentience or awareness deserves to be treated better than the way they are being treated here. If I could have it my way, I would put them in a place tailored specifically for those like them; at least they’d have some level of comfort then,” He paused, “But I’m just a security guard with a love for animals. I just make sure everything stays where it is, what do I have to say about anything that goes on here?” Derek turned his head, and saw the look on Toulouse’s face, “Uh, Doctor?”

Toulouse had a smile a mile wide, and not a friendly, kindly one; one of malice and craftiness, “You know, my dear Housewell, you’re right. They do need a better place. I do believe I know somebody who could… house them. I sure do think he would appreciate it very much,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a transition chapter, but honestly it's not even a chapter, just a small little snippet. I can't just have them suddenly get to a new place. You'll see what I mean.
> 
> Also, the Italic speech isn't any human language. They're technically growling and whining. I'll touch more on that little feature later


	12. Cirque

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, the circus is in town. Maybe this'll help lift some spirits

The front door slammed open, making everyone in the room flinch. The two parents walked in, arms full of brown paper grocery bags obscuring their sight. The children didn’t get up from their spot.

“C’mon, why aren’t you kids helping us?” Harry struggled with his three heavy bags, “We still got _-*grunt*-_ four more big bags back there,”

“Pffft,” Scott scoffed, and returned to his Doctor Who program

“Kids,” Margaret grunted as she piled her grocery bags onto the counter, “go help your father,”

“Naw,” Anna scoffed back, “He can break his back carrying in everything for all I care,”

“Scott, Anna-Beth, and Mary Fenrir, you get up and help carry in groceries,” Margaret grabbed the ears of the two nearest children, Scott and Anna, who groaned in pain but swatted away the pinching fingers.

“Why? You gonna ground us or something?”

“You already did that,”

“True,” Harry said as he also placed more grocery bags onto the table, “But the punishment is going to be of us not telling you of a cool, fun thing we picked up in town,”

“Don’t care,” Scott and Anna exclaimed in unison, but Mary got interested, “What? What is it?”

Margaret rummaged through her coat pockets and brings out five slips of paper, “The Circus is in town. And we’ve all got tickets for the show tonight,”

“Cool,” Scott said flatly, “Let’s go gather into a stinky, unwashed, glorified tarp tent with dozens of smelly, drunk people and their screaming kids, all to watch half-talented clowns and abused animals perform. What fun,”

Margaret glowered at her son, who gave no response back, “It’s supposed to be a fun time, for all of us. To try and get you three to smile,” She spat as sternly as she could, trying to mask the fact that she could feel sadness grip at her.

“Please, going there is more punishment than reward, so save yourself the trouble,” Scott turned off the television as the program ended.

“Well, I’ll go,” Anna sighed, “it’s something to do, at least. Mary?”

“Sure,”

“You guys have fun without me,” Scott turned away from the majority of the family. A grunt was heard as Harry placed the last of the bags on the counter.

“So, going to the Cirque du Socrates would be more punishment than pleasure?” Harry asked in a satirical tone

“Is that what it’s called? Pfft, could you get any more dumb. And yes, yes it would be,”

“Well then, your punishment for your behavior towards me and refusing to help us, you are coming with us to the circus,”

Scott snapped his head back around, staring right back at his father’s gloating face with his own incredulous one. After a few moments of staring, he looked back down to the ground, “Fine,” he growled out his hissy growl, “I’ll go,”

———————-

The time was about 8:30-ish at night, the line to the front of the so-called “glorified tarp tent” Cirque du Socrates, along with a ton of other smelly people and their screaming kids. The night was a surprisingly chilly one, one where you could see your breath, but the combined mass body heat, even outside the tent, made standing around in your jacket a sweaty experience.

Even though they said they’d go, Anna and Mary had their heads down on the sandy road along with Scott. They emanated an aura of angst that could be felt twenty feet away, and incredibly strong was the perception of this angst, that their parents tried to cheer them up.

“Hey!” Harry chimed out, “Check out this here poster! ‘New attractions’,”

Scott just grunted in dissatisfaction.

“Let me see,” Margaret pushed past the grossly overweight man in front of her to get besides her husband, “They’ve got the Pretzel Girl--”

“Probably just someone with a bone condition or something,” Scott retorted, not even looking up.

“The Elastic Wonder, The Wolfman--”

“Hypertrichosis,”

“the Lab Rat, and the Krakken,”

“Bet it’s just a capybara and a giant squid,”

“Son,” Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyance dripping from his voice, “Please shut up. Try and enjoy yourself just a smidge, will ya?”

“But you said this was my punishment for this afternoon,”

“We’re at the CIRCUS, boy. We’re here to have fun; to enjoy a laugh or two. Yes, it’s your punishment, but it’s a FUN punishment--”

“Heh heh, FUN-ishment,” Anna giggled half-heartedly

“So do us all a favor and drop the salty attitude and let us enjoy this, at least,”

Scott just grunted and made no effort to move his position, even when the line finally began to shorten as everyone was ushered inside for the show. He had to get tugged along by his shirt collar.

If it was a bit stuffy outside, it was ever so much worse inside. The air may be cold out there, but the ground still retained the heat from the day. Not only that, it stunk like wet dog, rancid food, and stale makeup; you could practically taste the diseases in the air. The three kids stuck their noses up in disgust and tried to plug their noses with their jackets.

They were ushered in quickly and seated at a random spot. If it wasn’t for the family gripping each other tightly they would’ve been separated. In the three alternately elevated rows of seats they were right smack in the middle. Thankfully the ones in front of them belonged to a family of small, yet strangely well-behaved kids; our three heroes had a perfectly good view of the circus stage. But alas, it was a view rather wasted.

Scott sunk low in his seat, his jacket off and sitting on his lap, ready to cover his face as soon as it all starts. Harry caught on to his son’s little plan, and promptly snatched it away. This gave Scott a little start, but eventually he sunk further down into his seat; so far, in fact, that he had to splay his legs out to avoid pushing the seat in front of him.

“Sit up,”

“No,”

Harry sighed deeply, but let it slide.

It was a stuffy and loud ten minutes as everyone got seated and all the staff members disappeared behind the scenes.

There was a loud feedback screech, causing everyone to groan and cover their ears en masse, but it effectively made them all quiet down. A sudden bright spotlight caused everyone to switch from covering their ears, to their eyes.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!” A loud voice boomed all around them, apparently Mr. Ringleader himself. He was wearing a gaudy red and white pinstripe suit, top hat, and sported a cane. He had a horrible smoker voice, “I welcome you to the Cirque du Socrates!” There was a mild cheer from the surrounding crowd, “I am Ringleader Toulouse! Are you surprised? I have advertised myself as the great Mr. Socrates himself. I bet that’s how you thought I named this humble little sideshow, after myself?” He paused to hear the anxious silence of everyone around him, “Well, I named this Cirque after the unique array of attractions I have gathered here; some things even the great philosophers of old could not dream to imagine!”

Scott gave a small grunt of disapproval.

“I am sure you all had a chance to glance at the new attraction posters I have everywhere outside, and I bet I have you hyped for them,” The crowd cheered wildly, some chanting things like “Pretzel Girl!” or “Wolfman!” or any other name of a sideshow shown on the outside posters. With a flick of Toulouse’s wrist, the crowd went dead silent.

“Good! Good! I have your interest,” He shifted his weight on his cane and tilted his hat, “But, to not let my tried and true fellow circus-mates go under their shadow, you will see these new attractions last,” There was a cacophony of disappointed groans, mostly from children, “Oh, don’t whine now children! I want you all to be able to enjoy the whole show, not just the shiny new acts. Keep up the anticipation, the wait, for the grand reveal at the end!” He turned around suddenly and threw his arms up in celebration, “After all, children, it is not always the end of the road that is most rewarding, but the journey you have along the way,”

“Good lesson there, kiddos,” Harry whispered before his wife nudged him to quiet down.

“And oh, what am I doing? I’m boring you all with my speech. Let’s get on with the show, shall we?” An uproar of cheers made the three siblings cover their ears, “Very good! Now let’s strike up the band,” big band music began playing all around them, “and put your hands together for, Daisey the Daring Tightrope Walker!” He pointed his cane upwards as everyone cheered, including Harry, Margaret and their youngest daughter, but for their oldest two, they kept their mouths shut.

Daisey the Daring did some cool stuff, maybe. She did a backflip along the tightrope, dove off, caught it again, and thrust herself back on flawlessly. It made the crowd recoil, cry out in concern, and then cheer loud enough to wake the dead. Mary seemed to be having fun; Anna and Scott at least had the decency to watch the act.

And next came the Three Bears: one black bear, one grizzly, and one sun bear, all obviously beaten and malnourished.

“Didn’t have the guts or the money to get a polar, eh?” Scott whispered to his sister beside him

“I think they were trying to stray from the obvious, maybe,” Anna replied back

The bears, named Blackberry, Muddy, and Silly respectively, rode around on some big, brightly colored balls, played pattycake with one another, took turns pushing each other on a cart, and then, for their finale, Muddy walked up to the Ringleader, crouched down, and picked him up. The crowd ooh’d and ah’d at this sight. Toulouse then stood up on the bear’s shoulders, and then her head. The crowd cheered as the band played the “ta-da” music and confetti popped out of pressurized tubes.

From here the whole act began to blur together in Scott and Anna’s minds. The lions and tigers standing on their hind legs conga line-ing with various clowns, more clowns putting on a ridiculous skit, another clown shooting himself out a cannon, strongman proving his strength by lifting a man that would put sumo wrestlers to shame, with one arm, (Scott scoffed as he spotted the very thin wire from the man leading to the ceiling) the “Fantabulous Curtain Dancers,” and by that point Scott simply did not care to even open his ears.

He honestly was beginning to doze off, and would’ve fallen fast asleep if the lights didn’t suddenly cut off and the drums didn’t initiate a very striking BOOM. This startled him out of his stupor. The center held Toulouse, one spotlight on him, his head down with a hand on his hat, and him leaning precariously too much on his cane. It was dead silent as artificial smoke began to fill the tent.

“Now, ladies and germs, and children alike, I must ask you not to scream,” His voice was dripping with seriousness, “You witnessed the Pretzel Girl, you’ve witnessed the Elastic Wonder, but now I bring to you, our final act,” There was the sound of squeaking wheels, “I bring to you, the Creatures from the Black Lagoon; The Wolfman, the Lab Rat, and the Krakken!!”

The music built up and up until he shouted the last name, and all the spotlights turned on as the band played a horrifying tune. Despite Toulouse’s advisory, there were screams heard throughout the crowd. The three sibling barely heard them, for they were frozen in shock at the sight before them.

“Oh dear,” Margaret whispered when she got a look at the expressions on her children’s faces, “Honey, grab them!” Harry made to grasp Scott’s collar, but all he could do was scrape the tips of his fingers against his shirt, and soon he and the other two were well out of reach. The three pushed themselves out from the first row of seats (with the children sitting in them exclaiming), recklessly climbing over the barrier, ripping it in the process, and proceeding to run at full clip towards the chained up attractions, all yelling

**“SCOOT!!”, “DOC!!”, “SPY!!”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my Christmas gift to y'all. FEELS!! Enjoy the implications!


	13. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're here. He's here. We're all here

The “Creatures from the Black Lagoon” all had their heads down when they were revealed to the masses, lying down or sitting dejectedly on their legs, or lack thereof; they clearly had no hope at all. That all changed the moment their nicknames fell on their ears. They bolted straight up, defeated eyes lighting up as they looked around for the source of the yelling, but due to the bright lights and smoke they could not see them right away.

The three children ran past a bewildered Ringleader and collided into their selected monster. Spy didn’t see Scott until the boy collided with his torso in a bear hug. Doc held a look of shock that faded into joy as Anna practically leaped into his arms, causing him to almost get knocked backwards. Scoot was straining against the chains, outstretching his arms to receive the excited Mary as she ran and tackled him, his eyes leaking water.

All of their faces were heavy with makeup, making them lose any semblance of human in them. Spy’s face was covered in a gross coating of grey, slightly metallic makeup that gave off the impression of scales. He was shirtless and shaven bald, but Scott could see some of the little stubs of hair returning. Doc’s entire skin was painted a much darker, toxic green, with a prosthetic haphazardly glued onto his nose, giving him the impression of a rat-like snout. The hair on his head was slicked back and ratted to give him a wild look. He wore a furred pant with a pink, rubbery tail poking out at the end. Scoot didn’t have any prosthetics, just glued on patches of “fur” all over his face and body. His attire was simply one of ripped jeans. All in all, they were a sad, tortured, and overplayed attraction that seemed like they were a moment away from giving up the ghost. The children held on tighter.

While the three siblings had their reunion, the crowd was in chaos. At first they all screamed out in concern when the three were running towards the monsters with no hesitation, then there was a conflicted chatter as they saw the monsters were not harming them; in fact, they all seemed relieved and overjoyed to see each other. At this point no one knew what to think.

“Well, it seems we have some rather brave little kiddies,” Toulouse grumbled, clearly unhappy the dangerous facade of his attraction had shattered, “Get away from there, children; those are dangerous monsters, you don’t know what they’ll do to you,” He began to approach them

Scott pried himself out of his hug and shot the Ringleader a poisonous glare. He pointed an accusing finger right at the man, making him recoil slightly, “You shut your Carny mouth!” There was a collective gasp, “We know these monsters better than you ever did!” there was a hum of bewilderment

It was Anna’s turn to turn around and scold the man, “These are our friends, they don’t deserve to be in a place like this; a place where you hardly feed your animals, chain them up, and make them act for your, and our, amusement!” It was beginning to become an uproar

Mary whipped around, knives shooting off her expression, much more so than one of her age should be able to convey, “They aren’t the monsters here, YOU ARE,”

By now the tent crowd was a riot, shouting and demanding the beasts be freed, the clowns and various other staff barely containing it all. Back behind the arms of the strongman, Harry and Margaret struggled to get free and run to their children with little success. By now the expression on the Ringleader’s face had darkened entirely, no light expression for the masses in sight.

“The show is over, children. It is time to go home,” His voice was just as dark as his expression. A small brigade of security staff formed behind him, “Separate them, tase them if necessary,” He commanded as the brigade surged forward.

The three children took up battle stances, ready to defend their besties, but the monsters pulled them back as they snarled and bristled in anger, Spy’s tentacles flaring. The security brigade simply scoffed as they readied their cattle prods. No one in the ring noticed that the crowd was being ushered out at a fast rate, some unlucky ones getting left behind and trampled underfoot as the circus crew threatened the crowd with bodily harm if they stayed any longer. The two parents were being dragged out by the rest of them despite them clawing desperately at the surrounding crowd, who barely noticed.

One made a grab at Mary, attempting to strongarm her away from the beast. Scoot snarled and snapped at his wrist, teeth scraping the skin and drawing blood. The man recoiled in shock and in pain, while Scoot roared at him, holding the determined little girl back. Another thrust their cattle prod right at Doc, which was quickly grabbed and yanked away by Anna. She shoved the business end right into his thigh, sending cries of pain and him falling to the floor. The other couldn’t even get close, seeing as Spy’s tentacles had grabbed his prod and was now defenseless to the squid man’s unrelenting volleys. It didn’t take long to push all the guards back, but despite them shocked and/or bleeding, they kept trying to get the children away from their biggest moneymaker. They pushed them back again and again, and eventually the guards fell over in exhaustion.

Toulouse’s face was one of pure fury. He threw his cane and hat to the side, bending down to pick up a stray prod. He said nothing as his eyes spoke volumes, him thrusting the prod down without any restraint to who he was zapping.

_WHAK_

A clown juggling pin came down hard on the rage-drunk man, making him fall right to the floor.

“Come on kids, we gotta get out of here now!” Margaret’s distressed voice was heard behind the wall of blinding light

“No!” came the response from Mary, clutching onto the riled up Scoot

“You are going to have to pry us away from them!” Scott yelled

“Oh, for the love of--” Harry rushed into view and before Spy could react, had grabbed onto his son and yanked him away, Scott not going quietly, “Marge, get them!” He snapped

There was some distinct hesitation with her, scared of the beasts in front of her. She had her eyes on Mary, wanting to grab her and get her to safety, but afraid of the one that was so protective of her.

“Margaret!!” Harry shouted as he held a death grip on Scott

Not thinking about it for another second, she lunged forward and grabbed the little girl’s hand and yanked her free from Scoot’s grasp, the beast not retaliating as his face fell.

“Scoot!” Mary shouted, reaching out for her friend with her free hand, “Let go of me!”

“Don’t strike that tone with me, young lady!” Margaret tried to sound authoritative, but she couldn’t hide the shake in her voice.

She glanced over to her husband, who was holding on with all his might to their two oldest as they struggled against his hold with everything they had.

By now the carnies had issued everyone out of the tent and so the clamoring sound from earlier sounded muffled. The children watched as they grew further and further apart from their friends as their parents dragged them away; they watched in the last light of the tent their friends look even more defeated and morose, and heard the squeaking of wheels as some unknown force pulled them back into the darkness. The tent flap cut them off from the sight of them.

“We’re going to have a long conversation about manners in public,” Harry stated sternly over the din of the clamoring circus goers

“You &^$#@!!” Scott screamed, which earned him the closest thing to a slap as a man could muster holding two struggling teenagers.

“And how you’re supposed to treat your par-- _URG!!_ ” Harry’s eyes bulged as his grip on the two teens released. He fell down to his knees and clutched his groin, letting out a strained gasp of pain.

Margaret’s eyes widened seeing the state her husband was in, but she recoiled as she felt a small but no less powerful foot slam down onto her open toed shoes. She released the hold on the little girl as she fell to a knee to grasp her foot in pain. They stayed there for a few moments, trying to breathe as the pain strained their vision.

“Mar-Marge!” Harry gasped out at last, “The… kids!”

\---------------------

The three were clustered together, running in an adrenaline induced fervor through the mishmash of tents. They threw open the opening flaps and despite startling some changing women(?), paid it no mind as they closed it and ran to the next one, startling some tigers into arching their backs and hissing. They did this over and over again, running back and forth between various tents and enclosures, trying to find the one holding their personal treasures. Time passed, them panting hard yet not slowing, but losing hope and eyes stinging. They didn’t know nor care how much time had passed; any time away from their buddies was too long.

That is, until they caught a pungent but familiar smell. It was nasty, and burned the backs of their nostrils, but right now it was as sweet as mom’s perfume. They ran into the tent, the sudden motion startling the residents inside, but they soon were straining against their chains to hug the children rushing at them once again.

The dam broke, and each child let loose their own waterworks onto the bodies of their best friends, but did not remain in the same position for long; they quickly began tugging desperately at the restraints keeping the sweet monsters anchored to their platforms.

_sh-CK!_

The sound of a gun cocking made the children’s blood run cold and the monsters to snarl and bristle. The stench of pot filled their nostrils and each plugged their nose with their jackets. They turned their heads to the source, and an unstable chuckle made them start shaking.

“Clever, clever kiddies,” Toulouse’s voice was just as glazed over as his expression was, and the gun in his hand was shaking violently. He was either as high as the moon, or the head trauma doing what it’s known to do. It was most likely both, “You ffffffffffound them again, heh heh heh. And let me guess, you want me tooooooooooooo… let them go for you, eh?” Each of the siblings nodded slowly. Toulouse laughed loudly, “Oh that’s funny. Like I’m gonna let you take my greatest moneymakers. My cousin gifted them to me, risked his job for me, and sssssssssssssssssssaved me from disbanding due to lack of people coming to see my show,” He shifted a lot of weight on his cane, almost falling over if he didn’t catch himself, “No one is gonna take that th-th-them from me, not even bratty little kiddies. Anyone whooooooooooooooooo tries is gonna get lead to the face,” He laughed stupidly, “regardless of how old they are!” He laughed harder, “Isn’t that funny?!”

From behind them, the sound of another gun cocking was heard. Hard, deliberate steps came out from behind a filthy cage behind the monsters, the footsteps’ owner pushing Toulouse back onto a magician’s table with a gun of his own.

“No, it ain’t, ya blighter,” The hard Australian accent gave it away

“Sniper?” Scott asked cautiously

“Hello, boy,” The man said quickly

It was at this point the tent flaps opened, revealing a limping pair of parents, and exposing them to the horrors of what was just inside.

“Kids! C’mo-- what?” Harry was going to call out, but stopped when he saw the two men with pistols.

Said two men with pistols didn’t pay any notice other than sparing a quick twitch of the eye. The children quickly ushered them in. Spy threw Harry an especially hard and terrifying look that made the father hesitate in his steps.

“Let them go, Pothead,” Sniper growled

Toulouse hardly seemed fazed, “Ha ha ha!! And how am I supposed to do that with you pressing that thing against my chest?”

Sniper pressed the gun down harder, “Then give me the keys,”

“I don’t have them! They’re all the way over there,” Toulouse pointed at a coat rack right behind Doc with his pistol. Sniper wasn’t even falling for it; he leaned in closer, screwing his face up at the stench of what that man was smoking.

“Nice try. Like I can’t see them dangling from your belt loop. And try to shoot anyone or anything in here and I’ll shoot your brains out,” Poison was dripping from his words

Toulouse’s face was infuriatingly mocking, “Would you now? There are children present, you know,”

That is where Sniper hit his breaking point. He grabbed the man by his bowtie, lifted him up in the air, and pointed the gun right under his chin, “Listen here, wanker, and listen good. I am a mercenary; I have recollections of assassinating men much better than you, even making little children drop like flies. And guess what, I didn’t even bat an eye. Now if I have to shoot you dead to get those keys, I will, no weight on my mind. Or you could hand those over and live to scam another day. Either way I’m getting those keys,” He pushed the gun against Toulouse’s chin even harder, eyes boring a hole in his soul, “Make your choice, mate,”

Sniper’s words had finally penetrated the thick haze of potsmoke in his brain, his smile falling and his eyebrows raising. With a shaking hand, he fumbled with the clasp, and handed the key ring to Sniper, who put him down to take them.

“Thank you,” and then he promptly pistol-whipped the man in the head, Toulouse crumpling to the floor.

Sniper’s hard expression softened as he turned around, glancing at the terrified family all clutching each other and the monsters trying to comfort them.

“Sorry yeh all had to witness that,” His voice was soft, a far cry from the harsh and terrifying one from just a few seconds ago, “Let’s get them free,” Sniper stepped closer to the group, everyone flinching away except for Scott.

The boy quietly helped him hold the chains still, still in shock that he was there at all. It wasn’t until Sniper was undoing the clasps around Spy’s arms did he have the courage to speak.

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

The man paused, “Well, ever since you brought those blokes into my mind all that time ago, they haven’t left since. When I got the news they were captured I did everything I could to find ‘em and free ‘em,” The first chain on Spy fell free, “I’ve been trying all these months to track down this specific circus, and finally found them here. Never did I think that you’d be here too; kinda makes everything a bit harder for me,” This made Scott’s blood run cold and the rest of the family to gasp out, “Calm down now, that means I’m saving you all too,” The last chain fell free, all three monsters angrily clawing and wiping their faces to rid themselves of the awful makeup. Doc instantly ripped the disgusting prosthetic from his nose.

Sirens were heard in the distance,

“Aw piss,” Sniper cursed, “C’mon, all of you. We gotta get out of here, pronto,”

Nobody wasted any time, and did not want to get on this guy’s bad side. They all followed him outside the tent, and through the maze of tents, flashing red and blue lights were everywhere they went. Spy was having some trouble navigating, and kept falling over, slowing them down and making noise. It was alerting everyone to their present location. When they heard the shouting of people saying “There they are! Get them!” they hightailed as fast as they could, right out of the mess of tents and right to

A camper van?

Sniper ran around and jumped into the driver’s seat, “Everybody get in! Load the monsters into the back! We’re gonna have ta squeeze in the front!”

Harry opened the back door. Scoot leapt in, Doc crawled in, but Spy had a lot of trouble, since the door was far too narrow for him. Scott had to try and push him in, but seeing it was only him, he did next to nothing. The sounds of angry police and circus people were drawing ever closer.

“Scott!” Spy shouted, “Get-in! I’ll be fine!”

“No!” Someone shouting ‘There they are!’ made him change his mind, “Be safe,” He ran around and literally jumped into the passenger side, Margaret barely having time to close the door before Sniper floored it.

They spun out on the dirt at first, the back being too burdened, but then a heavy shift to the front wheels made them peel out, sending up a cloud of dust right at their pursuers. They coughed and sputtered and held their eyes shut, some exclaiming in pain to the dust and sand getting in their eyes. When they opened their eyes the dust had settled, there was no trace or trail of the camper. No one caught what make and model the van was, neither the license plate.

They had escaped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. We're getting uncomfortably close to where I still have left to write. So uh, please forgive me if the next update is farther away than normal.
> 
> Oh yeah, I'm also completely rewriting this entire story to be it's own. That's "write," y'all have convinced me to publish this thing.


	14. Campfire Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, all of us. Maybe we could get to know one another?

They had driven for about thirty minutes, and no sirens were heard following them. And so it was a silent thirty minutes, no one having the guts to say anything. Sniper’s gaze remained vigilantly on the dusty road, expression one of no real happiness.

Harry was the first to address the elephant in the room, “So,” his tone was hard, “who are you, exactly? As the patriarch of this family I would like to know your intentions, with and without us,”

Sniper’s face and pose relaxed, happy someone was finally speaking up, “My name is Lawrence, Lawrence ‘Mundy,’” the audible quotations caused some confusion, “My intentions are exactly what you heard back in the tent: to free the monsters. I did not take into account you all showing up, but I can help you out as well,” He turned a quick look to Harry, a rather angry one, “What you did those months ago was not very ace,”

“Yeah, I kinda realize that now,” Harry looked away from Lawrence’s gaze

“Well, I guess that part doesn’t matter all that much, seeing here and now we’re safe. The Filth ain’t tailin’ us, so we may be good until sunrise,”

“Sunrise?!” Harry’s voice cracked, “No no no, you are going to take us home now! I don’t know what kind of scandal you’re trying to pull off here, but I don’t want any part of i--!” Harry was cut off from a slap to the face by his son, “Scott--”

“No,” the boy cut him off, “we’re going through with this. You took away some of our best friends, and now we have the chance to get them back. You said you realized your mistake, and I’m here to help you not make another one. I’ve met this man before, he’s clean,”

“What?” Harry didn’t sound angry, but rather confused, “You’ve met him before?”

“Aye,” Lawrence nodded, “It was hinted at earlier, did yeh not pick up on it?” He paused and watched the man lower his head in embarrassment, “Your boy here summoned me and told me everything; the ‘constructs’ out in the desert, them meeting the monsters, even the big fiasco with the car crash back in Chicago. I, in turn, told him my side of the story. I knew these monsters before they were monsters,” Harry looked down at Scott with a bewildered look, “After that, well, I couldn’t banish them from my head. You know the rest from here,”

“Mister Lawrence?” Mary had been itching to ask this the entire ride, but just now got the courage to speak, “where are we going?”

Lawrence smiled slightly, “I don’t know; away. Away to somewhere where those three could live in peace. And maybe you guys as well,”

“Huh?” It was Margaret’s turn to ask something quizzically, “But we already have a home. And were you not planning to get this far or…?”

The man chuckled slightly, “You can’t go back to that house. I’m sure the fuzz back there already have your family in the logbook under ‘Find Immediately.’ We may have gotten away with no one seeing where we were headed, but I know they got a good look at you and your children. And I doubt Mr. Ringleader back there is going to let you get away with taking his star attractions without punishment,” The weight of what he was saying began to sink into Margaret’s mind, her leaning over and face flushing, “And I did plan and hope to get this far, and even farther still. I have some claims on some land in three different states, unsure which one is the safest to be in. I was going to settle down there myself with these three, I’m tired of being on the road all the time…” he paused, a brief flash of sadness flashed on his face, “But you five are here, and you have a tight relationship with them, and currently in need of a new home, like that fact or not,”

“I… I don’t follow,” Anna asked at last, face contorted in confusion,

“I’m sure you’ll understand if you think about it a little,” And so the conversation ended

They drove on in silence down the dark road, Mary falling asleep in her mom’s lap, Anna leaning against Scott’s shoulder and drifting off herself. The time on the dashboard clock read 12:08 when Sniper turned the wheel sharply off the road, down this new path a ways, and onto a patch of dirt surrounded by brush. He slowed to a stop, jostling everyone awake or out of their thoughts.

“We’re here. I believe we’ll all be safe for the night,” He turned off the engine, “and a time to try and get to know everyone a little better,” He directed this at a certain someone who turned away slightly at his words

“Are they asleep?” Anna asked as she got out and rounded to the back door

“I’d imagine so, after they all raided my food rations, I bet,” Lawrence said, “I’ll get a fire goin’ and go check my traps. You three know what to do,” He walked off a small distance and got to work.

Scott undid the latch on the door, but it didn’t open. A slight displacement of weight from inside and something unlatched within. Scott opened the door to see shining orbs peering back at him. This would’ve scared him, if he wasn’t in on the secret.

“C’mon Scoot! Let’s go!” Mary called out, and the camper jostled as a blur leapt out like a cat. Mary hopped onto his back as they galloped away to where Sniper was working.

“I bet it’s stuffy and crowded in there, why don’t you come on out? Mr. Lawrence is going to get us some food,” Anna held out her hand, which a grimy green one took, its owner stepping out of the van, and went to the same place as Mary, as a flash of orange flared up in their direction.

“Come on Spy, It’s gotta be claustrophobic in there,” There was no movement inside, and Scott’s heart dropped to his stomach, “Are you in there?” he stepped inside a little, hoping his worst fears were not true, and breathing a sigh of relief as he spotted a slight silhouette and a flicker of movement, “Oh good. What’re you waiting for? Come on,”

“Non,” was the harsh response

Scott’s eyes widened, “What? What’s wrong?”

The monster huffed, “Fa-ther… no approve,” Scott could tell these words were said through clenched teeth

“My dad?” He stole a glance to the man sitting on a log bench warming his hands over the fire. Realization hit him, “Oh, that’s why. He knows what he did wrong, I forgive him,”

“I do not,” Scott spotted the slight reflection of Spy’s eyes; they looked disapproving, “Hurt you and… rude,”

Scott sighed, “Well, maybe if he officially met you he may change his opinion about you, and thus be a bit nicer. Come on, meet my parents,” Scott outstretched his hand, “for me?”

Spy didn’t take it right away, but soon the camper began to jostle as hundreds of pounds of Spy began to move their way towards the door. A scaly hand took Scott’s own as some tentacles began to appear out the door. It didn’t take long for Spy’s face to poke out from the doorway and his lower body to land on the dusty ground. He still had some remnants of the makeup on him, although it was clear he had been scrubbing away at it to try and get it off. It wasn’t for the best seeing as some parts of his skin had been rubbed raw. Spy turned his head towards the fire and his face contorted in disapproval.

“Don’t be so salty, Spy. Just give him a chance; people with mental illnesses don’t act like themselves sometimes. Just sit down and talk to him, ok?”

Spy’s mouth contorted upwards in a sneer, but he eventually began to cautiously move forward, trying not to tangle himself up on himself. Scott kept up with him, ready to catch him if he were to faceplant. Slowly but surely, the two of them made their way over to the fire, the others conversing happily, minus Sniper.

Scott sat himself down right at the end on the same log bench as Anna and Doc, Spy placing himself right beside the boy. The tentacles contracted in a circular motion and soon he was sitting on a nest made up of himself.

Mary wasn’t sitting on a bench, instead she was sitting on the ground and leaning against Scoot’s chest, who was lying down like a dog. Doc sat hunched over on the bench, hands in his lap. He was trying his hardest to sit up straight, but could only get that far. Anna sat next to him, but still minding his personal space due to a certain freakout. The two parents were sitting on the log bench across from the trios, still obviously scared and uncomfortable with the sight of their children with such beasts, but trying to keep that to themselves. It was silent, and tense, until they heard the sounds of footsteps to their left.

“Have you all been silent the entire time I was gone?” He walked into the light of the fire, three large jackrabbits in one hand and a big bucket in the other, “Come on! Make conversation! It’s late enough in more ways than one, might as well just get talkin’,” Sniper placed the bucket down, liquid inside sloshing and some falling out on the dirt. He sat down and pulled out a large knife

“H-how did you catch those rabbits so quickly?” Anna asked

“Didn’t jes’ catch ‘em, I snared ‘em with a trap I set up earlier. Big hunter; got lotsa huntin’ knowledge in my brain box,” Sniper surgically cut open a rabbit’s chest

Harry was remaining silent, so Margaret spoke on his behalf, “While I appreciate the effort, Mr. Mundy, I don’t think I’m hungry enough to eat wild rabbit,”

“If ya don’t want any, you don’t have to have any. I didn’t catch ‘em for ya, I caught ‘em for them,” He pointed in the direction of the monsters, “You see how skinny they are? Bet they didn’t eat much these three months,”

“Then there’s no need to skin and cook them,” Scott pointed out

“Yeah, they eat them all raw,” Anna finished

“I’m skinning ‘em so I can save the skins for later. Learned from harsh experience that it’s best to save every scrap you can find,”

They let him work in silence for a good 5 minutes, staring at his professional job of skinning the hares. Mundy was not oblivious to this,

“Come on now, pretend I’m not here. Talk to each other!”

Scott sighed deeply and decided to take it upon himself to break the ice, “Mother, Father, meet our friends,” He gestured towards everyone else on or by the bench, “Last time our introductions weren’t top notch, so why not try again? I shall go first,” He turned his body to face Spy a little better, “Mom, Dad, meet my friend Spy,” Spy folded his arms and turned his head away. Scott’s voice got considerably harder, “Spy, meet my parents, who are willing to give you a second chance,” he wasn’t being subtle at all, “and it would make me very happy if you were willing to even look at them,” Spy hesitated, before softening his hard expression and turning back around, making eye contact with the man on the other side of the fire, “Thank you,”

Anna picked up, “This is Doc,” the man-beast waved an awkward hand at them, “he is a doctor; well, was, but still is! He’s the one who convinced me to pick up the violin,” Anna was beaming a mile wide.

“This is Scoot!” Mary ruffled his hair, and he grinned in response, “He used to be an athlete!”

Harry was obviously feeling a bit calmer about all this, and decided to say something at last, “Scott, you didn’t tell us what your Spy was before,”

“Well,” he shrugged, “I kinda already did; he doesn’t remember his real name, just the codeword he went by during his time as a merc,” Harry took note of the explanation

“That reminds me, Doc doesn’t remember his name either,” Anna stated

“Scoots too,”

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Margaret said

Mundy’s face fell 

“How did you meet them?” Harry asked

Rubbing the side of his neck, Scott explained the story of that first camping trip. From Mundy’s letter, Anna beating the truth out of him, Mary stowing away, exploring, everyone getting separated, and coming out of their monsters’ hidey holes the next morning.

Sniper was quiet the whole time, getting the other two rabbits skinned and tossing them to the monsters, who took them hungrily.

“That does remind me, how long has it been since you three had a good, solid meal?” Everyone was shocked that Harry was the one to say this.

Spy swallowed his mouthful, “Had to-share rations. One… piece of… meat for-us, per day. Sometimes… rotten; too hungry to-not eat,” He unhinged his entire mouth as wide as it could go, and took a bite that took out half the rabbit, bones and all.

“Vas… hard,” Doc put in, “Sometimes not… remembering to feed-us,” His teeth still clacked together during speech, as they did before, Anna fondly recollected.

“I once got-out,” Scoot’s turn, “raided food-car. Came back ta-cage with lotsa food,” He coughed as a stray bone fell in an undesirable place, and spat the piece out on the dirt, “We ate it all be-fore notice food gone. Found out; punish-ment no food for three days, only water,”

“Wow, I’m shocked you three didn’t kick it already,”

“Hope to-see children again,” Doc put, head lowering as he gave a small grin. Anna gave him a sudden side hug, causing him to jump but didn’t push her away.

Harry’s head was down, and he was trembling. His wife put a hand on his shoulder, “Honey?”

He wiped his eyes before lifting his head up; he was crying, “What have I done? Acute paranoia or not, who was I to separate my children’s only source of happiness from them, and vice versa? After all this time, after hearing them… speak… and say they loved my children so, my sin is just now sinking in, truly sinking in. My actions have hurt so many; my children, their friends, my wife, Mundy, my brother, me,” A horrible sob wracked his frame, “I’ll never forgive myself for this,” He let out a long and shaky sigh

“Well dad,” Scott’s voice startled the crying man into looking up, “you made a mistake, I know this as well as you and the rest of us do. I admit I will never look on those memories with anything other than anger and contempt, but you were a scared father. When you take that into account, your motives are… almost justified. There were beings unknown to you hanging around your children, and this unknown scared you. If I think about it that way it all makes sense. Your actions were, in no way, excusable, but all I can do for you now is you knowing you have my forgiveness,” Scott’s stomach rumbled, and he heard Spy stop eating. He glanced up, his friend was giving him a concerned look, “Spy I’m fine--” a tearing sound later, and a rabbit’s leg was right in the boy’s vision, “Thanks Spy, but you really should have it; you need it more than I do. Besides you know I don’t eat meat raw,”

Spy was insistent, not letting Scott push away the meat. He heard some exclamations to his side, and glanced over to see the other monsters following Spy’s lead.

Sniper gave a chuckle, “I’ll go get my frying pan and some spices. Oh, and this big bucket of water is for you three to wash off that rancid makeup, but if it isn’t enough there is a stream about a hundred meters behind us. I’ll also get some rags and soap. Until then please feel free to take a drink from it if you need to,”

And so Mundy walked back to his camper van, coming back with said supplies, along with some clothes of varying sizes. While Mundy was cooking the rabbit legs, the monsters walked off into the darkness a bit with the bucket and soap, and not-so-quietly began washing themselves of the acrid circus stink. A call and Harry tossed the clothes in their general direction. The three monsters came back cleaner than they have been in years.

There was a lull in time where it was mostly silent, Sniper cleaning his skinning blade. Everyone noticed the downtrodden look on his face. He was well aware of the staring, and with a humorless chuckle, he broke the silence.

“You three don’t remember your names…” the assassin said it quietly, but everyone heard it, “It’s so unfortunate, you had such nice ones too,”

Everyone opened their mouths to speak, but all the sound that came was the squeak of a mind changed. What could they say?

“I guess… all that time alone, wallowing in whatever made you change, _those_ memories fading away… took it with ‘em,” he breathed a quiet sigh as he put the blade to the side, “But… I remember,” There was a spark of surprise in the three monsters’ eyes, mouths hanging open in shock, “I remember all their names. Ivan, Mickey, Ian, Antavoi…” he paused, “Joseph, Percy, Daniel,”

Only the children heard the small gasps from the monsters. They lowered their heads, eyes wide and gasping. Of course. How could they have forgotten? Yes, that was it, that was right. Their names. _My_ name… Tears prickled at the edges of their eyes.

“Wh- who goes to who?” Harry chimed in, effectively ruining the monsters’ moment

“Dan-iel,” Scoot pointed to himself

“Josss-eph,” Doc simply stated, sounding more like he was trying the word out on his tongue

“P-erc-y,” Spy sounded the same

Lawrence gave a smile, “That’s it. You each picked them out yourself, rejecting the artificial personality im--” Scoot had made a noise, a noise that sounded like a word. It was a word too familiar, and Lawrence’s chest swelled, “Wh-what was that?”

“Lawww-ler,” Scoot lifted his chest up, making the noise-word again, “I used to-call you, Lawler,”

Lawrence’s face contorted and he placed a hand on his eyes. Tremors wracked his frame, a wetness escaping in between his fingers.

“Mr. Mundy? A-are you ok?” Margaret asked, concerned with the sudden emotion

The man sniffled before wiping his eyes with his arm and raising his head. He attempted a smile, but it was skewed with tears, “I haven’t been called that… in-- for so long. I-I really missed ya, Danny,”

Scoot gave Mary a quick, imploring look, to which she smiled and inched herself forward, off his side. The monster got up, not up straight, but all fours on the ground. He crawled over to the crying man and sat down in front of him, eventually resting a paw on his shoulder. Lawrence shuddered, but after a pause he shot forward in a sudden hug. Scoot was a bit shocked at the sudden embrace, but eventually just fell into it, wrapping his own arms around the man. They held their position, Lawrence’s body convulsing to his sobs.

Mundy drew himself out of the hug after holding it for at least a minute, looking more collected and managing a weary smile. Scoot returned it before crawling over to the little girl again, her leaning against him as she was before. She couldn’t help but give him another hair tussle, this time his wet locks spraying some water on her and getting her hand wet.

It was silent the entire time they did this, no one wanting to break the moment in front of them. Harry had to look away some as to not start crying himself, Margaret having to suppress a tear and a giggle to comfort him.

“Alright, mushiness aside, we got all the time in the world right now,” Lawrence stood up, smiling a mile, “why don’t we talk amongst ourselves for a bit?”

And so they did. They talked about anything that came across their minds. Spy and Doc both relayed some words in their “native” tongue, Scott recognizing one of them as a swear and punched the beast while he laughed. They talked about what they did with the monsters every time they visited, talked about what weird and strange adventures Mundy got up to since the gravel wars ended. He got out his sax and played a few riveting tunes. He even revealed he had a stash of s’more ingredients in the front cabin of his camper. They had s’mores around the campfire, gooey chocolate getting all over Mary’s fingers, with Scoot more than happy to lick it off like a big dopey dog.

When Mary let out a big yawn, Sniper checked his watch: 2:34. It was decided it was time enough to get some sleep. Not everybody would fit inside the small camper van, especially not with the monsters. A small moment of discussion, and it was decided. Mundy went back to the van, brought out sleeping bags and blankets, and set them around the fire at a safe distance. The children climbed inside the sleeping bags and the monsters huddled against them, blankets draped over them. The two parents climbed inside the camper, Mundy offering some pajamas but turned them down. Mundy himself climbed atop the hood of the van, watching the fire as well as the six sleeping happily around it. He had a stick, and was using a small knife to whittle. A small moment of time passed, him getting up once to throw some more wood on the fire, before he heard tired voices come from the open window to his side. He sighed,

“You two should be sleeping,”

“I can’t seem to fall asleep,” Margaret’s voice was heard, with Harry’s close behind saying the same thing, 

“That’s unfortunate. If we’re gonna get everything done tomorrow, you’ll need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed when we set off,”

“What about you?” Harry asked, “You’re the one driving us. I don’t know how long you’ve been awake, and you’re offering to keep watch all night. I don’t want you falling asleep at the wheel and causing us to crash,”

“Ya don’t need to worry about that, mate,” Sniper grunted as he sliced off a shaving of wood, “I’ve got plenty of late nights under my belt. Plus, you’ve heard your boy call me Sniper, and that’s exactly what I can do. I have the patience and skill to stay still and awake for hours and hours, including through the night. This is no problem, trust me,”

“If you say so, but I still don’t trust it absolutely,”

“You’d be a fool if you did,”

“Lawrence, what’s your story?” Sniper visibly cringed from the woman’s sudden words, “We got the watered down version, but I’m curious; I want to know more. We’re both not falling asleep for a good while, so we’ve got nothing but time. I won’t judge you for anything you’ve done in the past, I just want to know,”

There was a pause, Sniper not shaving at his stick, “My story’s not very pleasant on normal bloke’s ears, but seeing as your kids run with monsters, it shouldn’t do too much to ya,” He shifted position, “I am about 8 years old,”

“What?” Harry and Margaret’s bewildered voices echoed slightly in the distance

“I wasn’t ‘born’ in the sense you know it. I am technically not biological; a freak of science. Can you guess what I am?”

“An alien?” Margaret asked, but was shot down

“A clone?” Lawrence paused at the man’s guess. Harry’s eyes widened, “What? H-how??”

“I’m not sure exactly how I exist; the technology used to create me broke down and corroded shortly after… I remember floating in clear fluid, then said fluid drained and I felt the sensation of cold for the first time. It was even worse when the tube holding me withdrew and I fell flat on my face. Having never experienced gravity before, I was pinned to the floor. I knew nothing, I remembered nothing from before this time. I remember panicking, and then not liking the sensation of panic. There was movement in front of me, and then something placed itself on my head. I didn’t like it, so I tried to shake it off. It didn’t budge, and I felt a horrible piercing sensation on my scalp. It hurt so much, but I couldn’t move," His fingers ghosted across the back of his head, "Images flashed before my eyes, experiences rooted themselves in my psyche, knowledge filling me. That is not a metaphor, I literally felt them do this.

“Identity hit me. I was a Mr. Mundy, bushman and expert sniper; somehow fond of saving up jars of my own wee,” He heard the parents inside cry out in disgust, “It said I had killed several people, and that killing was no problem for me. I tried so hard to accept this, but all those days out in the battlefield, shooting down other mercenaries, something didn’t sit right with me. I tried everything to quash this, reenacting everything my brain was telling me I was. For a time, I was Mundy, but the real Mundy was on the opposite side of this ridiculous battle. I was not Mundy, even though I bear his face, his memories. I am not that man...” He paused in his whittling to sigh deeply, “I never will be…”

“I-I don’t quite understand. I understand some, but some context is needed,” Margaret inquired

The man paused, “Two feuding twin brothers, fighting over useless pits of gravel, had both agreed to instead of fighting with words, they’d fight with guns and explosions. Not them specifically, but they would each hire mercenaries to do that for them. Three mercs each was what was agreed on, but one of the brothers, Blutarch, had the sly thought of outdoing their brother by hiring four. Redmond, the other, knew his brother would think this way, and so went and got _five_. Blutarch was furious, while Redmond reviled in his first victory.

“Blutarch couldn’t stand the idea of his brother outdoing him, so he got the bright idea to nab a small piece of DNA from each of his brother’s mercenaries, and clone them. The idea, as far as I know, was to shock ‘im by showing up not only with his own unique team of mercs, but with Redmond’s own. Guess what happened,”

“Redmond had the same idea?”

“Exactly. The two brothers showed off their teams, exact duplicates of the other, both brothers equally shocked, and enraged. Soon the battle became more and more about one-upping the other and less about information and land. Increasingly stupid, is all it was… Despite us being on the different teams, we never hated each other. Sure, maybe the real versions of us held some contempt with the other team, but us clones, our nature made us form a bond, or for some of us, a tolerance for each others’ existence. During the weekend ceasefires, we clones would meet up in secret and enjoy our time together. We crafted our own identities during these times,”

“What team were you?”

“RED,”

“Oh, RED and BLU. That makes perfect sense,”

Lawrence went on, “We decided on forgoing the name that was given to us, and choosing our own. Danny’s idea. My name is Lawrence, not Mundy’s,”

“So that’s why you said your last name so harshly,” Margaret interjected, “It’s not your real name,”

“Right,”

“So that all makes sense to me, but what happened to make everything go pear shaped and create those three out there?”

Lawrence paused and sighed loudly, “That day wasn’t fun, for anybody, but started off normal enough, for us. We got a shipment of food a few days before, so we had plenty of food to spare and didn’t have to ration it off like we were before. Moods were sunny. Ate breakfast, prepared for battle, and went out to mercilessly slaughter each other again and again for slivers of information,”

“How is that possible?” Margaret’s voice was incredulous

“A variation of the cloning technology allowed us to cellularly reconstruct, at perfect health, back in the ‘Respawn Room,’ where we would run out to kill and be killed once again,”

Margaret let out a breathless gasp, “How is any of this possible?”

“I can barely comprehend it myself, sheila,” He went on, “That day had some extra pressure on it, seeing the brothers were visiting our current base to ‘discuss’ some affairs; both teams were trying to trump the other, show off to the bosses. And then the explosion happened. It was from the sewer system under the base, powerful and shocking. It sent most everyone back through the respawn, some on our team not coming away without injuries seeing that the RED Respawner shorted out and broke due to the explosion. Toxic fumes were filling up the place, spilling from everything the sewer was connected to, as well as the vents. We had to evacuate.

“Someone ran into the main room, where the brothers were, but found the room completely caved in. It was odd, seeing the explosion had come from below, and the entire place was designed to withstand multiple explosions. We couldn’t devote time to think about it, seeing as we had to get out and our bosses were dead. Most of us got out, but…”

“Not those three,”

“Exactly,”

“That explains the warning signs and such, but how did they survive any of that? Where were they in all of this?”

He paused, “Prolly shoulda started with that. Anna’s Doc was the BLU team’s medic. He was hit on the head and fell into the pit, and thus into the sewer. That hit should have killed him, and send him through Respawn. It didn’t. There was a temporary ceasefire to try and locate him, but we could not find him without getting lost ourselves. We had to continue battle as our employers urged us. It was around this time everything at that base started to stink like a mix between sulfur and burning hair. It was coming from our vent system, so we tried to close off as many as we could and just use the windows to aerate things. It worked for the most part, I guess. None of us got sick from it.

“A good while passed by without much incident, as much as something like ‘not much incident’ counts with us. We changed bases, but not outside of New Mexico due to the fact that the BLU Medic was M.I.A.

“Mary’s Scoot was our Scout. One day he misjudged his jump, and fell right into the sewer. It took him 2 hours for him to come back, and he came back through Respawn. We found him hiding in his locker after combat ended, shaking and crying, repeating ‘Sewer Medic,’ again and again. We tried to convince him to lead us to where he was, but he refused to do anything about that sewer pit. In fact, he did everything in his power to get out of combat for the next two days. It was only when he got yelled at did he finally agree to combat, convinced the chances of coming across the M.I.A Medic wasn’t likely. Poor boy… he fell in again, and was back much quicker. I suspect he offed himself before anyone else could. After that he refused to leave the Respawn room for the rest of the day, even after combat ended. We woke up the next day with him gone. We scoured the base, but couldn’t find him. Combat started, and we had to fight without him. I was stationed at my vantage point when I heard thumping in the vents,”

“Did he really crawl into the vents? I thought they were filled with poisonous fumes,”

“He did. Nothing we said or did could get him out, so we just left ‘im in there. After a few days he hadn’t gone through Respawn from the fumes, so we thought we could open up some vents, so we could give him some food and blankets and such. He talked to us every now and again, mostly me. Told me he felt safe in there, no one to sneak up on him without him knowing. As time went on, we heard and saw less and less of him. We’d leave some food by a vent opening and the next moment it would be gone. Even if you stared at it, the moment you turned away it’d disappear without a hint of anything moving. There were even quite a few times if one of the enemy BLUs would stop for a breather or such by a vent opening, they’d get a trip through Respawn. Not totally out of action, I guess. Heh,

“This was the case for the next few months, up until the explosion happened. I wanted to get Danny out of there so badly, but the one who volunteered to go in (they had a gas mask) came back through Respawn. She said a monster vaguely in the shape of Scout killed her. Since the Respawn system had broken, it wasn’t worth sending anyone back in there. We… left him,” Lawrence’s voice was strained, “We all met up outside the base, and did a headcount. RED Scout missing, BLU Medic missing... and BLU Spy missing. No one wanted to go back in there to get him, seeing he was the clone Spy. It was real dangerous to go in there and search for ‘im, and no one would miss ‘im. This is one part that makes me differ from Mundy, I went back in there to find the spook. I got a tip that the BLU water pipes had broken open from the blast, and the building was flooding fast. I had to work quickly…” He paused for a moment, “I found him, legs torn to ribbons, barely breathing. I tried so hard to get him out, but he insisted I save myself, leave him to die. After I refused to let that happen, he threatened to blow my brains out if I didn’t leave. He had a death wish. As much as it hurt me, I left him,”

“That makes some sort of sense, I guess,” Harry scratched his chin, “what happened after?”

Sniper paused, “We all went our separate ways. I just… roamed the New Mexico desert, unsure what to do. I admit to going back to 2fort after two weeks to get some guns an’ ammunition for both food and self defense, should the need ever arise. Mundy found me a while later, and gave me everything; his name, his money, camper van, everything. He wanted to disappear. I asked about the other clones; he said they gave their real versions everything they accumulated through their short lifespan… and offed themselves. He wanted to try and find me before I did the same. I wouldn’t’ve anyway, I want to live. I traveled around, hiding seeing Mundy’s face is a bit known,” He scoffed, “Figures; I was the perfect decoy for him. I vowed never to kill anybody, if I could help it; the years slaughtering the same people over and over again haunts me…”

“So what you said in the tent…”

“Mundy’s memories, not mine. There was a good bit of bluff there too. Drat…” He mumbled to himself as a part of his stick snapped off, “I wanted answers, so I traveled to find out as much as I could about everything. I uncovered why I’m so different from Mundy, why we were all different,” He heard fabric rustling as the two parents inched closer to the window to hear better, “As amazing as the technology was, it wasn’t perfect. It was supposed to create exact duplicates; every memory, mannerism, and personality in perfect sync with the real deal. Before the memory implant, the clones were just supposed to be empty slabs of meat, with no sense of being and no consciousness. That clearly didn’t work, with any of the clones. We all had our own personalities, despite having a foreign one put into us and expected to act out that one. I theorize the reason those three managed to mutate as they did without growing cancerous, and defy all odds and survive with their minds this intact, is because we are not biological; some rules don’t apply to us. Perhaps we’re cancer enough we can’t get any worse,”

“Don’t say that!” Margaret exclaimed, “It doesn’t matter how you got here or what your mind tells you you are, you are your own person. Decide on your own fate, it’s a big world out there,”

“Thanks, sheila,” He smiled and gave a pause, “You have a very smart boy, y’know,” his gaze fell on Scott, the boy huddled into a ball, leaning against Spy’s chest in his sleep, “and a brave one too. He found how to contact me, a big, scary assassin, and sassed me to hell and back,” he took a long and meaningful shave off the stick, leaving a deep groove longer than the others he already made, “Very good little artist, he is. He been drawing long?”

“Naw,” Harry responded, “it was suggested by his therapist after the crash. First it was writing, but that didn’t do anything for him. Said ‘I love reading but can’t write to save my life.’ ’S true, his writing grades were always the lowest. His therapist gave him an empty sketchbook and some pencils the next time he visited, and it stuck. He already had a fascination with human anatomy, as well as abstract art, mostly Pollock, so it didn’t take much to get him rolling,” there was shuffling as Harry changed positions, “That first sketchbook got torched by bullies who followed him after school. Came home clutching ashes and crying. I got him a new one, this one he kept under close guard. Drawing is his therapy, he does it almost every day,”

“You see his drawing of the monsters yet?”

“He drew them? That would explain why he was so secretive of his work those months. I guess that didn’t change much when I sent his friend away, I haven’t seen any of his new stuff,”

“All three of them have been giving us cold shoulders and lots of disrespect after then,” Margaret added

“Makes total sense. I don’t blame ‘em one bit,” Lawrence sneered. He looked back out to the fire and those huddled around it, “I was plannin’ to build or move into a house and pond big enough for us four, where we could live in relative peace. It’s not exactly what I want, but I’m willing to put that aside for them. But now you five showed up,” He paused and leaned back on the windshield, “I can get rid of my superfluous fortune, make a family very happy, and chase my own dream,” He sounded like he was looking forward to all this very much

A certain part in what he said made the parents curious, “Superfluous fortune? What do you mean?”

“I’m giving you blokes everything. I’m getting you all a house, one that can accommodate the monsters, since I doubt you could tear the six of ‘em apart again. I’m getting everything settled so you don’t have to worry about tons of snooping eyes and reporters. I’m giving you all the money I own,”

Harry had a hunch, “Mundy gave you all his money, didn’t he? So along with the money you made yourself, you’re worth--”

“16 million US dollars,”

The color drained out of the parents’ faces, Margaret passing out before being roused by Harry, “Lawrence, we cannot possibly accept!”

“Please. I’m as insistent as the monsters with the rabbit legs earlier. I don’t want all this money, I don’t _need_ all this money. What am I gonna do with it? I want to make my own legend. I want to get married, raise some little ankle biters, grow old with a woman who loves me. I don’t need 16 mil to do that. Trust me, I’m not taking no for an answer,”

Harry’s heart was racing, “I-I don’t know what to say, Lawrence--”

“Don’t say anything; thanks aren’t needed. I should be the one thanking you. Now come on now, get some shut eye, we got a big day ahead of us,”

The inside of the camper grew silent, and not long after light snoring was heard. Lawrence chuckled a little before getting up again to place some more logs on the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, folks. I'll be totally honest, I haven't written a single word of this story ever since I published the other part, I just felt bad that I'm taking so long to update when this chapter is already completely written out. The next chapter isn't, although it is decently along; it's pretty big too. The reason behind this is my job is kicking my butt and is demanding all my energy, so when I get home I can't devote any energy at all to being creative, that includes drawing. Galdag I can't draw at all


	15. Truth and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We haven't been completely honest, now have we?

The first thing Lawrence noticed was that his eyes were closed. Damn, fell asleep on guard duty. No huge deal, he thought, more energy to get that family settled somewhere. He made to move off the hood of his camper and-- wait… there were minute beeping sounds and shuffling and frightened breathing. He noticed the metal under him was cold and clean and smooth, not at all like his van.

Something was wrong

He was weak. He stirred a little, and a second later a set of hands was shaking him, a scared and familiar voice accompanying.

“Lawrence!” It was Harry, whisper-yelling while he shook the man’s shoulders, “Oh god, wake up! Please,”

Lawrence gasped and sat up, eyes wide open. The room was dark but yet bright and it stung his eyes. His ears rung and his cheeks stung. He felt sluggish, a new dull ache in his left shin and abdomen. He squinted and blinked, the image of a frazzled father and his tear streaked face coming into view. He opened his mouth to speak.

“Har-ryy?” the word was slow and difficult to get out, “Wh…”

“Thank god you’re alive!” the man’s tone was just as frazzled as his face, “I’ve been trying to revive you for fifteen minutes! I had just given up when you started stirring,”

“What?” Lawrence's hand rose slowly to feel his cheek, “Is that why it--?”

“You were shot with three darts,” A new voice spoke, one that calmly demanded the full attention of everyone in the room, one that dripped with status and self-importance, “as opposed to one or two for the others,”

Lawrence’s gaze snapped towards it, now seeing the full extent of the predicament in front of him. Wrought iron bars obstructed his view, but there was no missing any detail.

A gigantic monitor surrounded by several smaller ones and a panel took up the center of view, glowing with a bright green, centric glow that lit up everything else. A silhouette of a small, thin person stood in front of it, the middle of it glowing with points of golden light. To the sides, sat the children opposite the monsters, chained down onto circular platforms with tubes and wires coming out of all six, the ends of which climbed upwards and out of the reach of the monitor’s light. They were all either crying, struggling against their restraints, or both. He himself was in a cage, accompanied by the desperate and terrified parents. Like circus freaks.

“It is of surprise to me you aren’t dead from the amount of sedative pumped into you, but like you said before, some biological rules don’t apply to you,” the silhouette spoke again, turning his head to show the silhouette of a face, a smiling face full of wrinkles and a bald head.

He pushed the frazzled man off of him, “Wh-who th’ bloody ‘ell are you?” The words still gracelessly stumbled out of his mouth, but he forced them out anyway.

The silhouette spoke again, chuckling all the while, “Of course you don't recognize me. All connections to me have been redacted. Some of it by my father,” he held out his hand in a gesture suggesting a presence, “most of it by me,” he placed the hand on his chest with a grin, “Your three years of digging would have found nothing of me,”

Lawrence has now managed to stand on his own legs, but gripped the bars to hold himself up. His eyes bore down on the smiling man, “That didn’t answer my question, ya bloody piker. And jes’ what the hell is all this?” He sounded angry and confident, but all it really was was a mask to hide the fact he was terrified.

The man gave a chuckle, “Redmond and Blutarch were twins, yes?” He paused, waiting, “I said, Redmond and Blutarch were twins, yes?”

“Yeah?” Lawrence was confused. Just what was he getting at?

He chuckled again, turning completely around to face his guests, “Well, that's not entirely true,” he reveled in the caged man’s bewildered expression, “I am not saying they weren't twins, I'm saying the dueling duo weren't the only ones,”

Lawrence pounded the cage bars, “Spit it out, you son of a b--!!”

“Ah ah ah! Language, ‘Mr. Mundy.’ There are children present. And if you insist. The Mann twins, were actually the Mann triplets. You had the Red and the Blue, but now you behold the Grey,” he gave a bow.

Everyone in the room was either dumbfounded or confused, all were speechless.

“That’s a lie, innit?” Lawrence spat after a beat, “Jes’ wanting to capitalize on the Mann fortune, eh? Claiming ta be a direct relative for the money,”

Grey began to walk past the bound ones, right towards the cage, “Oh please, you don't see the family resemblance?” He got close enough for his features to be clear. Lawrence gasped, the exact face of the Mann brothers, but from at least thirty years ago. He had the same nose, facial shape, even the same malicious smile, but part of the Mann ‘triplets’ he couldn’t be.

“Sure, maybe you shared the same parents, but the same birthdays? No way, mate. You’re decades younger than those bags of dust were,”

“Am I?” He turned around, showing a closer look at what those golden lights behind him were; a sprawling machine on his back, wires and tubes going in through his suit and undoubtedly into his body.

That light, it was all too familiar. Maybe not by his own memories, but the implanted memories of bullying on school playgrounds made it all clear. Of course. Lawrence growled.

Grey began to withdraw back to the screens, “Good to see we have that rumor cleared, now ab--”

“There’s still a good chunk of my question left unanswered,” Lawrence threw his voice but kept it level, “just what the hell is all this? Chaining up and sticking wires and tubes into children like some mad scientist, throwing me and said children’s parents into a cage like zoo animals. What is your deal? What is your plan?”

“Oh,” the anger being lobbied at him didn’t sway Grey one bit, “I’m just merely cleaning up a bit of a mess,”

“Don’t you dare lie!” he hit the bars again, “Don’t lie or sugarcoat anything, you old bastard. You got us here, why? What do you want from us?!”

“Don’t use that against me, Lawrence Dundee,” Grey’s tone has shifted from one of playful mockery to one of darkness, “Don’t speak as if you have the moral high ground. You have lied plenty to this poor little family ever since that boy summoned you to that diner,”

Lawrence’s eyes grew wide, and he felt the bewildered eyes of everyone else in the room on him. The heat drained out of his face, and despite the lack of strength in his extremities to begin with, he began to shake.

“What?” It was Margaret, “It’s not true, right?” the man grit his teeth, “Tell me it’s not true, Lawrence!”

“I’m afraid it is, missus,” Grey’s cool tone has returned, “You wouldn’t have offed yourself anyway?” He began to saunter back to the cage, hands folded across his back, “You tried suicide 8 times in the months before Mundy found you. You have claims to land in three different states? You have no such thing,” Lawrence began to withdraw, making a tighter and tighter ball of himself under the weight of the accusations, “You had planned only as far as freeing these monsters from the circus. Going to take care of things so there are no prying eyes? What would you have done? What would you have done that wouldn’t have compromised the vows you’ve made to yourself?” Streaks of tears appeared on Lawrence’s grimacing face, “You’re not as good a person as you think you are. You carry more of Sniper’s being than you think you do. Maybe you are Mr. Rick Mundy, the murderer-for-hire--”

“Shut up,” It was Scott, finding his voice and indignation amongst his fear

Both Grey and Lawrence lifted their heads to face the boy, utter shock on Lawrence’s and a shallow hint of surprise on Grey’s.

“Excuse me?”

“Did I stutter, you Stone Age remnant? I said shut your pie hole,” He wore a face that he wore once before, the time just before he got beat to hell and back to fulfill justice, “Those are not malicious lies, they are lies to soften the blow, to protect someone else, to hide something that maybe shouldn’t be shared with people you just met. Targeting specifically the points that you know hurt others the most? How weak. How cowardly,” Grey was now making his way towards the teen. Scott hesitated for a millisecond before continuing, “Grasping at straws is all you’re doing. Lying is something everyone does, and for someone of your position, I imagine you’ve lied every day of your life,”

Grey was now in front of the boy, expression cool but hiding an underlying anger. Spy’s face turned anxious as he made a few more attempts to free something of himself. There was a beat as Grey waited for the boy to say more, and Scott waited for any retaliation, holding the somewhat wavering scalding expression. Eventually the man scoffed and lowered his body to be level to Scott’s.

“You wouldn’t be wrong. Such a clever little boy, so perceptive, so… protective,” He reached a hand out to cradle Scott’s chin, the boy objecting to this but held firm in a tight grip, “Hm… your scars are so much deeper in person than they appear on a screen. You do this to yourself?”

Scott’s eyes widened in anger as he wrenched himself free of the wrinkled fingers and made a snap at them. Grey withdrew his fingers in time avoid the boy’s teeth, Scott huffing an angry breath, “A bit snappy too, I see. Hum,” He straightened his back, “And you didn’t let me get to the biggest lie that man told you. He is the cl--”

“I picked up on that last night. You did say I’m perceptive, yes?”

“I would like it if you didn’t interrupt me, thank you,” He walked back to the panel, “He told you that the other five clones committed suicide shortly after the explosion of 2Fort. Absolutely not true,”

This time Scott was caught off guard; he had been certain this was a truth. He faced the man in the cage, having gathered enough strength to stand up completely, but hands still clasped firmly on the bars, “What?”

Lawrence hesitated under Scott’s gaze, “Mundy never told me they killed themselves off, he just told me they found their place. That’s the truth, I swear to God. It was so vague I had no idea what it meant. I just assumed,”

Grey faced his captives again, with a smile that read both malice and honesty, “Would you like to know where they are?”

Lawrence’s face lit up with a gasp, and showed a second later he regretted showing that much vulnerability all at once, “Of course you know. Yes, I would,”

“Good. Perhaps it will be a bit of… peace of mind for you,” He pushed a button on the panel, and the glowing mint green of the screens changed suddenly to the black and white image of a security camera. It was inside a casino. The image was trained on a bearded, darker skinned man with an eyepatch, seated at a poker table surrounded by more than shady individuals.

Lawrence’s eyes grew, “Mickey?”

“Ah, the BLU Demoman, known for being prickly and antisocial, never smiling unless it’s at misery, the one who hated being alive the most. You would think he’d jump at the opportunity to die permanently, no?” He was answered with a nod, “Well, apparently there was so little you, or anybody, knew about him. He didn’t jump at the opportunity to die, he jumped at the opportunity to gamble. He lost and regained his fortune many times, earning the attention of some…” Grey touched the tips of his fingers together, “dirty individuals. It wasn’t that he was caught cheating, he was caught winning too often. When he played a prominent figure in the world of crime out of seven thousand plus dollars, and not from one game alone, he was gunned down. He is dead, but not from suicide,” Lawrence’s expression shifted ever so slightly, and it was not lost on the old man, “Not so tragic to you, is it? You didn’t like him much, his only interactions with you were to tell you to, how did he put it, ‘Naff off?’”

“That was his only interactions with anybody,” The caged man elaborated, “The only time he said much more than that to us was when we convinced him to name himself,”

“He had no funeral. Now,” He pushed a separate button twice, one picture flashing once too quickly to be made out, and the attention fell on the second. It was a security camera image of a gigantic man in a bright pink snow hat buying things from a convenience store. He had a big smile on his face, “Any guesses?”

“A-Antavoi? But I thought he hated pink,”

“He did, but that changed when he met a young woman in Canada, and fell in love with her. They eloped, got married, and had twin baby girls,” There were multiple sets of wide eyes in the room, “Oh yes, it is possible. I doubt those girls will ever know they are half abomination of science,”

“Anti didn’t tell her?”

“He moved on the quickest from the Gravel Wars; considers his beginnings to be obsolete. As far as I’ve been able to tell, he truly does not see any reason to see his beginnings as an obstacle. Maybe a lesson or two could be drawn from him,” he pressed another button, another security camera image. A side view of a snowy street corner, with the giant man and a larger-set woman holding the hands of two equal sized little girls. The image was blurred with motion but there was no doubting the people in it, “The BLU Heavy seems to be both the most like and most unlike his RED counterpart. Ever a family man, but infinitely friendlier,” He twitched his gaze to the cage, “You liked him fairly well, didn’t you? You wanted to see him get the fullness of life, everything he wanted,”

“Of course I did, someone that optimistic deserves it…”

“There is a hesitance in your tone, why?” He paused, “It has nothing to do with Antavoi, does it?” Lawrence avoided his gaze, “Ah, you know someone’s coming up in the list of fellow clones, yes? A certain someone you secretly worried about?”

“Will ya stop it, ya freakin’ nutter? Are you stalling or just taking immense gratification seeing me squirm?”

“Hmm, both,” Another button press, and a new image of a new person showed on the screen. No, two people. No, three. It was a recording of two men and a woman at a bar, laughing and smiling and hamming it up for the camera. There was no sound, but there was color. Lawrence was gasping and there was a twitching smile on his face.

“Not what you expected, I take it?”

“He-he’s alive, and happy. Bu-both of them are,” He looked down towards the ground, shuddering with relief, “Ivan always talked about how he hated that Respawn always brought him back. He hated the fact that he was alive at all, a freak of nature. I’ve only seen him genuinely smile three times in the time we worked together. And now look at him, smiling and laughing and most likely singing jaunty drinking songs,” The footage had paused for a second before starting again at the beginning, “And that has to be Ian, yeah? Almost didn’t recognize him, no longer looks like a ‘brooding man of war,’ as he put it. I guess that means he--”

“The RED Engineer, Ivan, wandered along for a while, trying different methods of death, trying very hard to carry them out, and found he simply couldn’t. Seeing this, he sought out his BLU counterpart in Texas where they talked. It must’ve been a very motivational talk, since after that he went on, forged a lot of documents and stories, and got himself into a prestigious university. He got himself a Masters in medical prosthesis, rather quickly too, seeing Mr. Conagher already had the knowledge of 11 hard science Ph.Ds. He just graduated about a month ago.

“During his term he came across an old friend; the RED Soldier, Ian, who was studying to become a teacher. He had recently gotten plastic surgery on his face at the time, so it was a little amusing to watch as a giant gorilla of a man tackle-hug a tiny, surprised little man, but then it got cliche as they tearfully caught up,” More than a few faces soured at Grey’s remark, “He studied hard, got a teaching license, and began to teach 3rd graders at a rather… low income elementary school. He’s doing more than swimmingly, the school headmaster stated that Mr. Ian Thomson is the sole reason the school’s ratings went up, both in his ‘wonderful teaching techniques, and his multiple generous donations,’”

“Oh don’t say it like it’s not admirable,” Scott was getting fed up with this old man

Grey, however, didn’t seem to notice anyone spoke, “Ivan and Ian remained loyal friends. Ian opened his house to Ivan until he found his own. They constantly go and do stuff together, the footage you’re seeing now is them celebrating Ivan’s graduation. Ian actually managed to woo the heart of one of the female teachers at the school, and they have been dating for two years. It is she who is holding the camera,”

“How did you get this footage?”

The man grew a smirk, “With the vast fortunes both of them own, I figured one measly little camera wouldn’t be mourned,”

Lawrence growled, “Great, a liar AND a thief,” Grey opened his sly mouth, “I haven’t stolen a single thing since I’ve been out on my own, so shut ya gob,”

A raise of a wrinkled eyelid, and the man let it drop, “This is true. Now,” He slid a finger across a module, multiple images of many things flashed in an instant, before falling on more black and white security footage, one of a very familiar space of desert, right next to a chain link fence. A throng of people stood close to it, rather familiar people. The footage was trained on a certain duo, gas masks in hand as they gawked at each other for a moment, before one of them dropped their mask and ran forward toward the other in a hug. The emotion was felt by everyone except one, “I’m sure you remember this moment,”

“Barely. It was mostly overshadowed by the fact I had just clocked Mundy in the face and had taken off to the flooding BLU base. But yes, I do remember it. Seems you took the time to cut out that little bit,”

“Well, it’s not the purpose of this certain clip. I merely wanted to show the unmasked Pyros, and their reactions to each other. It’s hardly discernible here, too grainy. Perhaps this one,” Another button press, and this time a scanned family photo appeared. Three aging Hispanic people, two women and one man, and two younger ones with massive burn scars. These two were of a man and a woman, “Keep in mind this was taken a year ago. The RED Pyro’s name is Rosa, and this is her family. Padre Miguel, Madre Leticia, and Tia Yolanda make up the elders. Rosa shouldn’t be hard to pick out, but who is this man here? One that bares so much resemblance to her?”

“A twin. Duh,” Scott spat

“Yes boy, but no at the same time. There is a reason she surged forward and hugged the BLU Pyro, a complex one. But seeing we still have some time to spare I think I can afford to tell it.

“Rosa was never an only child; she was born with a twin brother, Carlos. She seemed to inherit her father’s firebug ways while he did not. While they loved each other, as siblings do, they found little common ground. Rosa often got frustrated with her brother, telling him she wished he would go away, burn to ashes to fertilize the soil and be useful for once. She would apologize later, of course, but it left its mark on the poor boy. Later in life he would disappear, in the beginning for hours then soon growing to weeks on end. It was when he didn’t return for a month and a half did Rosa finally decide to go and find him. She followed his tracks, uncovering what he was doing in those days and weeks he’d been gone. How tragic,” He tutted, “She searched and searched until one night she heard angry yelling off in the desert, then a sudden scream of pain. A familiar one. She ran to it. There was one person writhing in pain on the desert floor, but the evidence surrounding him suggested there were many more, and had gotten away. There he was, stabbed multiple times and had bled out considerably already; he couldn’t be saved. Rosa held his hand as he said his final words; he wanted to be burned to ashes, so that their family would continue to just think he was missing, so that they would continue to have hope. How selfish…

“She did what was asked of her. She held his hand until his touch grew cold, then made a hot fire. She made the flames hotter and hotter, watching it until morning, when everything was just ashes. She did, however, take a little trinket of him; a snipping of his hair. She returned home, writing off her state of distraught to the lack of success finding him. She kept that little snipping close and secret, hidden away in a box. She even took it with her when Redmond employed her.

“Now, due to most everything about her being covered with that asbestos-lined suit and the mask nearly 24/7, it was hard to find something that was loose, something that the cloning machine could work with. Blutarch had demanded the samples be collected that night, so instead of removing an article of clothing from the sleeping Pyro, they went for the next best thing,”

“The hair snippet,” Margaret mumbled

“Precisely. Redmond knew his Pyro was female, but Blutarch did not, so the clone Pyro coming out a male did not seem out of place. Besides, under that mask it was fair game. Nobody, not even the Pyros themselves, knew the truth,”

“BLU Pyro never named himself, just insisted on being called Pyro. He never stated why. I guess… it kinda makes sense,”

“Coming out of the cloning tube a male and having memories from a female view implanted into him made him sure something was wrong. There’s your explanation. So, you can imagine taking off the masks in front of each other to be a rather emotional experience for them both. That is both the RED and BLU Pyro in the picture,” he gestured to the screen, “The BLU Pyro had nowhere to go, and had just learned that he has more than a passing resemblance to a long gone family member. He said he would fill in the void Carlos left, and he’s doing well enough at it. The story is Carlos contracted amnesia, and thus went missing. He led a different life, working for the rival corporation of Rosa’s employer. It was pure coincidence that Rosa ‘found’ her long lost brother. He’ll need help ‘remembering’, so any lapse in memory is easily written off. I can’t find much fault there; square peg, square hole. Why not?”

There was a moment of silence, Grey looking off to his right, a look of annoyance on his face. A small grunt from him later, he broke the silence.

“Any more questions?”

“&^%$in’ SEVERAL!!” It was Harry, who was now angry instead of scared, “We have nothing to do with any of this, so why are we here?? You’ve conveniently avoided answering why my kids and their friends are tied down and full of tubes, and why us adults are in a cage!”

“Would you like to be tied to the ground? I can arrange that easily,” Once again, Grey shows his indifference to rage

Harry hesitated, “We still know nothing, why don’t you enlighten us on things that actually matter?”

“Harry,” Margaret hissed through clenched teeth,

“Hey, he’s fine,” Lawrence replied with a weak smile, “He does have a point, we have more immediate concerns than the lives of old coworkers,”

“I would answer you, but I don’t know the answer myself yet,” He turned his head to his right again, tone very annoyed, “if things were a little speedier we’d all know,”

“So you did this just for a laugh?” Harry’s anger went on

“Oh no, there is a reason. I’m just not sure if that reason is true,”

“That answered nothing!”

“We should know soon, but in the meantime, I do have another side of the story to tell. Would you like to know what the biological ones behind your old friends have been up to?”

Lawrence’s face had flushed and his eyes had widened, but this time his jaw didn’t drop, “I’m apprehensive,”

“Good. Now,” once again, a button was pressed and an image of people showed up on the screen. A scrawny man, smiling a large toothed smile, was holding a woman bridal style. It was set up like an engagement photo, “Any guesses? It shouldn’t be too hard,”

Scoot, who was closest to the screen, held his mouth open agape in a bewildered expression. Lawrence didn’t have a hard time with any guesses either

“That can’t be Jeremy. I never thought he’d land anybody, not with that grating personality of his,”

“He did indeed. As it turns out after getting rejected several times, very quickly, and consistently for the same reasons, he began to look inward. ‘Maybe I’m the jerk,’ he said to himself, and thus tried to mature. That’s when he found dear Ruby. After a few months of dating, he came clean that he’s trying to be better, and Ruby agreed to help him out. He has matured so much faster with her than he has fighting over gravel pits.

“But that’s not the only other one in this picture,” a button press, and a greying man and woman took the screen. The man was kneeling on one knee, holding a small object that was lost to the film grain. But judging by the woman’s reaction it wasn’t hard to tell that this was a proposal, “Now this is a sight I never thought I’d see,”

It was Spy’s turn to stare in bewilderment

“No way. Not him. This is a joke, ain’t fair dinkum. That old tosser won’t settle for anyone!”

“It would sure seem that way, and you’re not the only one who thinks that,” Grey turned around to face his prisoners, arms behind his back, “Apparently he decided espionage is no longer for him; ‘old bones’ I think is the reason he posited. Hm. He bought a ring, and proposed to Ms. Foster, Jeremy’s mother. I’m sure you know the whole thing with RED Spy being BLU Scout’s father, yes?”

“A-course, Jeremy made a whole scene about it, for about three days,”

“Little Jeremy didn’t take the news very well, either time. To be frank, he had hoped to be done with the ‘old French…’ I shall refrain from that phrase in the presence of children. But no, instead he goes and tries to become a permanent part of his family! And is now actively trying to become part of his life! How dare he,” Grey’s voice was high pitched and comical, and all the while throwing theatrical hand gestures, “How dare he!” Grey’s little act was over, hands now back folded behind him, “Jeremy actively spites him, and refuses to spend any time with him at all. Just being in his presence makes him mad. That old stab-happy man is acting too out of character for his liking, something smells fishy. And all this time old man Victor’s not giving up on him. He’s his son, after all. Time passes, Jeremy’s getting used to his presence, he’s seeing how happy the man makes his mother, and some convincing by Ruby later, he comes to peace about it all. Victor tries one more time to earn his son’s respect, and what do you think the boy said to him?”

Lawrence hesitated, “The Jeremy I’m familiar with would tell him ta piss off, and swing his bat right at his nads, but the way you’re painting this is… not that?”

Grey paused, looking at the floor for a beat before smiling that malicious-yet-honest smile, “‘Don’t smoke around my girlfriend,’ and extends his hand out for a handshake. It’s a shame I didn’t record such a moment. It was touching. I wonder how many of you would’ve cried,” Faces soured again. A little growl escaped from Scoot, “And that’s not all,” Grey pressed a button, and a picture of Ruby and Jeremy kissing on a park bench appeared. It was a cute photo, but no one in the room was in the right mental state to appreciate it. There was something off about it, something different. A little… bump, “Looks like old man Victor’s gonna be a--”

**DING**

The sharp sound startled everyone in the room but him. Grey groaned loudly instead.

“Finally,” He swiped his hand across the console, and dozens of pictures flashed before the screen faded back to the mint green. He tapped a different button, a small microphone popping out of a hidden panel, “Bring it here,”

There was a pause before a cacophony of metallic whirring, sputtering, clanking, began in the distance. It was getting closer. The monsters whirled around as much as they could to see what was coming. Grey groaned again, burying his face into his hand.

“Not all of you. Oh alright,”

The sounds got close enough that the shape of whatever it was making them could be seen, and it wasn’t one thing, it was several. Lawrence and the monsters’ faces all fell open with shock.

Robots. Dozens of them. All ridiculous and impractical in their design, almost as if they were designed that way on purpose. The shapes, the extra bits of unneeded metal, it looked…

“W-what is this? What are those??”

“Oh, simply plan B,” Grey answered as a robot from the front of the mass handed him a long piece of paper. He held it up to the light and examined it, “a backup in case my first plan didn’t work, that proved to be useful in other ways. Not too many, but enough to keep around,”

“B-bu-bu,” The man was a stuttering mess, “why do they look like that then? Why do they look like us?? Wh-why are they mockeries of us!!”

“Oh please, Mister Sniper, like you don’t consider your own existence a mockery,” He didn’t move his gaze off the paper once, but continued to scan through the text as if his eyes and mouth were two separate beings. Lawrence did little more than give a low growl.

There was a moment of verbal silence, Grey quietly reading in the mint green light of the screen. The robots sputtered and clanked before they eventually clanked back into the darkness, the prisoners breathed and wheezed, but the situation was calming down in the lull of time. Heartbeats stopped beating in their ears, breaths calmed, tears stopped flowing, and confusion reigned. What were they to do? Lawrence tried to talk, but was shushed by a quick gesture from Grey.

After the silence had begun to get stuffy and Lawrence began to wonder why he was following what the old wrinkle asked of him Grey chuckled and lowered the paper. Anxiety skyrocketed.

“Well now, how intriguing,” He turned towards the children, “you three are slightly mutated,” Eyes widened, faces flushed, and those who could control their ears flattened them, “Spending as much time as you did with your dear friends had quite the side effects. Tell me,” He bent over a little towards Scott, “have you noticed any differences with you?”

The boy was too dumbfounded to reply, eyes wide open and mouth making indiscernible sounds.

“Increased muscle mass? Increased stamina? Increased ability to hold your breath underwater? Sharper teeth? Anything?” Grey's eyebrows raised, “As observant as you are I'm surprised you didn't notice,”

Scott was really getting sick of this old man. Without thinking he glared and growled, and instantly it hit home.

“Ah yes, exactly,” He straightened and turned towards Anna, “Heightened hearing, more severe arching of the back, increased slenderness of the hands, more powerful bite force, and sharp teeth again.” Anna stared at her hand. Grey turned just a little more, right at Mary, whose eyes began to shine with tears, “And you, little one, have you noticed your vision getting worse? Arms getting longer? It feeling more natural to hunch on your hands and feet?” His tone was soft and sweet for her, truly mocking and empty of sympathy, “Can you hear things better? What about the urge to bite things?” Mary began to quietly sob. Scoot growled from behind Grey.

The man waited for anyone to speak, but it was nothing but silence with quiet crying. So he continued, “You three have mutated to suit the environments you were in while visiting your little friends, mutating in ways similar to them, and so I was right,”

Lawrence opened his mouth to retort, but Harry did it for him, “You knew??? How the f#$% could you have possibly known??” Margaret quietly reprimanded him for his language

“Oh yes I knew, but entirely by accident,” He walked back to the module and pressed a new button. A small panel slid open, and a vial with a dark substance came into view, “It's all thanks to this.” He picked it up and showed it to everyone.

Even in the dim light and distance everyone could tell this substance was vile. It was just a dark spot, no light shone through it, like it was actively absorbing all the light around it.

“Wh-what is that?” Lawrence asked

“This, oh this, is the cause of all this. You see, I designed this as an... explosive,”

It all clicked. Lawrence's mouth hung open, “It was you. You caused the explosion. You killed our bosses,”

“Yes I did. I had to get my brothers out of the way somehow,”

“But it killed more than just your brothers. Everyone in 2Fort was killed, and only the ones hooked up to Respawn had the luck of coming back,”

“I'm sure the world is doing just fine without the likes of Helen or Pauling, and you're wrong. These three,” he gestured to the monsters, “survived without Respawn,”

“Augh, you know what I mean!”

Grey smirked, “Now, this,” he shook the vial, everyone collectively flinching, “was my Plan A, and it worked. I intercepted every shipment of food and weapons slash ammunition to 2Fort, and planted several small robots in them, not to poison you, but to get them there to build discrete cameras and the containers for the explosives. So you were right, in a way, dear Lawrence.” Said man merely soured his expression, “and while I waited for the day my brothers were visiting, I noticed my explosive's fumes had an interesting side effect; mutation. All the victims of mutation were the clones, so while I learned so much about the biology of said clones, and how they mutated, no true biological person fell victim to it. Until the children came,”

“You watched us?” Scott found his voice, but it was scratchy with fear

“I watched everything happen in that base, all the way up to it's destruction,”

“So we're nothing more than your little experiment?!”

“Well, how else would I see you? You're not human anymore,” Harry shouted at this while the monsters snarled or hissed, “And if you think my experiment is concluded, you are dead wrong,” he approached the module again, “What I have is fascinating, biological beings falling victim to non cancerous mutation! But the results are too slow, far too slow,” Hearts began to beat wildly, “I want to speed it up,” He pulled a lever.

Panic erupted. The children writhed wildly in their restraints, trying to get to the tubes inserted into their bodies out, Mary's tears flowing freely, but they were tied down too tightly. The monsters screamed in desperation, writhing harder, throwing self preservation to the wind as they fought to free themselves. Harry was pounding against the bars, hurling barely comprehensible insults, while Margaret had frozen to the spot, eyes wide and shaking.

Black liquid began snaking its way down the tubes, and the children watched with horror as it got closer and closer, eventually entering into them.

They shrieked, oh did they shriek. Shrieked and contorted in pain. Contorting and writhing. Sounds of fleshy snapping and crunching peppered their cries. The monsters cried too, crying out in pain as they injured themselves and in desperation to save their friends. Scoot's cries were of rage, directed right at the old man with his golden, glowing back to him.

Lawrence had felt all heat in his face run out, and thus all energy to stand leave. He fell hard to the floor. He couldn't just do nothing, locked away in this cage, he had to do something, the cries of the children pushed him on. He looked around the room, nothing inside the cage, nothing within reach outside i--

No, that's it. His knife

It was laying on the floor behind him just outside the cage. He could probably reach it. He crawled to the opposite side, and thrust his arm out to it.

Just out of reach. He pushed all his body that would fit out, strained his arm to reach, and his fingertips only brushed the handle. If anything he was just pushing it away; Grey probably did that on purpose. Lawrence growled and pounded the concrete floor in frustration--

The screaming stopped

He turned around; the children had fallen to the ground. They were still. The monsters stopped their own cries for moment, before screaming all the louder.

_No, there's gotta be a way to reach that kn--_

An epiphany. Lawrence retracted his arm and turned around, placing his legs out. With one swift leg movement, the knife was against the cage. He quickly picked it up and hobbled to the other side. Margaret had fallen to the ground, shaking with her hands pressed hard against her ears; Harry just held the bars and sobbed. This only pushed Lawrence on.

He was wobbly, his vision blurred, but he had to try. He grabbed the bars, hoisted himself up, waited for the pounding in his head to subside, and took aim.

Grey watched as the mutagen pumped into the still bodies, and ignored the furious cries of the monsters behind him. He also watched as a flash of silver whiz past his nose and heard it lodge itself in his control panel with sparks flying. He put a hand up to his nose, a drop of red came back. He grinned and turned himself to the cage.

“You missed. What kind of marksman are you?”

Lawrence was panting from the effort, but he grinned back, “Wasn't... aimin'... for ya,”

The full realization of this came too slow, and Grey was tackled to the floor by a roaring Scoot, biting and clawing at everything he could bite and claw at.

The other two monsters rushed over to the still children, threw the restraints off of them, and yanked the tubes out. They cried out as some of the mutagen splashed onto them. Doc snarled angrily at Scoot, and he ceased his assault to bound over to Mary's side.

Lawrence's vision was beginning to fade, and his hold on the bars weakened. He fell back again, feeling unconsciousness creep in.

 _No, not now._ He fought it, shaking his head and forcing the darkness back. He looked over, Margaret had managed to get up a little, and was being held by her husband. He was whispering something to her, something he couldn't hear.

“Y... you two ok?” The words were slow and thick. He attempted to sit up

“We're mostly ok,” Harry's words were shaky, “PTSD is one helluva thing,” He was stroking Marge's hair, “What about you?”

Lawrence had managed to sit up, but couldn't manage the energy to keep his head up, “Shaky and weak and nauseous, but I'll live. We need to figure a way out of h--”

A large shadow fell over the cage, and dark appendages wrapped itself around two bars. A loud grunt of effort, and the bars began to groan and bend. Spy kept pulling and pulling, and soon the bars were wide enough for the adults to walk through. Spy offered his finned hands to Lawrence.

“Thank you, Percy,”

Spy merely hummed as a response as he led the man out. The other two hobbled out.

The monsters had gathered the children close together, Doc and Scoot holding them close. Scoot was trying to revive Mary, whimpering all the while.

“Are they...?” Margaret barely had the will to ask

“Alive...” Doc answered, “un-con-scious. Perhaps... co-ma, but alive,”

“We need to find he--” The clanking of the robots was returning, and returning fast.

They looked to the panel. Grey was splayed on it, a hand pressing a very certain button. Panting and straining and bleeding, he turned towards them, a golden glow filling his eyes, malice filling his face.

“We need to get out,” Harry stated calmly before screaming, “NOWW!!”

Doc and Scoot scooped up their respective child, Harry grabbing Scott, and all booked it. By some miracle, Spy managed to not only keep up, but not fall over. Lawrence stumbled and stumbled, but Margaret held him up.

They disappeared into the darkness of the lab, and eventually a hoard of robots filed out after them. Grey watched his creations disappear in the direction his prisoners fled, all the way up until metal hands picked him up and walked out of the room with him in tow.

\----------------

The family ran around the maze of the lab, which as it turned out was more of a warehouse, desperately trying to find a door to the outside, and avoiding the sounds of robots. Adrenaline blurred their vision and memory, and nobody really realized what was happening until they found themselves outside and stuffing themselves into Lawrence's van.

It was bright outside, about noon, and everyone was squinting. But seeing mattered less than hearing, and they were hearing nothing more than the clanking of robots.

The monsters with the children leapt into the back of the van, shaking it with their weight. Lawrence himself was struggling to look for the keys. The robots were almost upon them.

“Where's the spare where's the spare where's the spare,” Lawrence mumbled to himself.

“Lawrence, they're getting closer!” Harry shouted out the window.

“Augh, do you know how to use a sniper rifle?”

Harry turned back, “No,”

“Then drive,” He shoved a key into the man's hand and grabbed the rifle from the back of the seat nobody had bothered to notice.

There was a moment of stupor, before Harry jumped into the driver’s seat, and after accidentally inserting it the wrong way once, turned the key and slammed on the gas. Lawrence cried out as he was jostled around a bit, but steadied himself back outside the window of the passenger door as he took aim. The closest bot was a Scout bot, and it was close enough to jump onto the van. It leapt, but was intercepted by a bullet to the head. Another was quick to take its place, and this time it was shot before it could jump. Other robots behind it and the other one were tripping over their metal corpses.

Harry was shaking behind the wheel, the whole place was barred off by a chain link fence, and every way he turned seemed to be either a dead end or filled with bots. He actually ran over a few, which he was sure wasn't good for the chassis. He turned a corner, the wheels lifting up a bit.

Today seemed to be full of miracles, since just ahead there was a break in the fence. Whether that was a door or the fence was broken there it didn't matter, that there was their exit, and it seemed like he would have to smash their way out.

“Lawrence, do you see it??” Margaret tugged the man's shirt

He turned around, got an eyeful, and climbed back in, “I sure do sheila. Gun it, mate!”

Harry's foot slammed on the accelerator, they were making a straight beeline for it. Robots were beginning to close in on the area. Harry let off on the accelerator in hesitance.

“Don't think about it, just floor it!!” Lawrence used the butt of his rifle to pin Harry's foot on the accelerator. Harry began to scream as the car sped up and up and got closer and closer. They hit a few robots before bursting out into the open.

They kept up their speed, and rocketed out on the dirt road. It didn't matter what state they were in, it didn't matter how far they were from the nearest town, that would matter later. All that mattered right now was to leave that building in the dust, and leave it they did.

For the second time in two days, they had escaped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo sorry about that unexpectedly long hiatus there folks! Autistic burnout is one hell of a thing. I'm slowly crawling out from under it, so here we go again. A little exposition heavy, isn't it? Hopefully y'all aren't sick of the exposition, as we still have a little ways to go.
> 
> I hope I made Grey sound good. He's always come off to me as a sociopath that gets under people's skins, can read them like a book, and enjoys watching them squirm. Hopefully it's not OOC, and if it is it's not terribly so.


End file.
